FUNDAMENTALS IN METHODS 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 



FUNDAMENTALS IN 
METHODS 

IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 



BY 



JOSEPH KENNEDY 

DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, THE UNIVERSITY 

OF NORTH DAKOTA; AUTHOR OF "RURAL 

LIFE AND THE RURAL SCHOOL" 



'NttO gfltfc 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1915 

All rights reserved 






Copyright, 1915, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published July, 1915. 



<<£v- 



J. 8. Cashing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 

©CLA401936 



JUL 29 1915 



2>efcfcatefc bg tbe Butbor 

TO THE 

ELEMENTARY TEACHERS, 

BOTH RURAL AND URBAN, OF THE NATION — THAT VAST ARMY 

WHO ARE OUR SHIELD AND OUR DEFENSE, AND WHOSE 

LIVES ARE A SACRIFICE UPON THE ALTAR OF CIVIC 

RIGHTEOUSNESS AS THEY BATTLE VALIANTLY 

AGAINST DISEASE, VICE, AND IGNORANCE 

IN THE "SAVAGE WARS OF PEACE" 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/fundamentalsinmeOOkenn 



PREFACE 

The author has long been impressed with the poor 
methods and the lack of genuine efficiency in elemen- 
tary schools everywhere, both rural and urban. Having 
been a teacher and supervisor of both kinds of schools, 
he feels that this observation and experience at first 
hand enable him to speak with some knowledge of the 
facts ; and he hopes that his message may be of some 
value to the elementary teachers of the country. More- 
over, he takes a deep and special interest in the rural 
and elementary schools generally, and any adverse 
criticisms of the work done there are given in a friendly 
spirit and for a constructive purpose. The aim is to 
help and not to find fault. 

The elementary school, urban and rural, is the foun- 
dation, the full basement, on which the superstructure 
of all higher education must be raised. Whether pupils 
are to live their lives in this basement or whether they 
are to erect upon it a one-story cottage in the form of 
secondary education or a two-story dwelling of college 
education, the foundation and basement should be of the 
best. It is in the interest of this foundation, " lest we 
forget, lest we forget," in its best construction, that this 
little volume is addressed to elementary teachers. 

In accordance with the law of habit we become enam- 
ored of our own thought and action. They commend 
themselves to us more and more as we proceed. They 



viii Preface 

become a part of us and we fail to see them. We fall 
into ruts and remain unconscious of our condition. 
Rural buildings and premises and those in small towns 
and villages become more and more dilapidated as time 
goes on, and the owners, growing accustomed, from day 
to day, to the slowly changing appearances, do not 
realize the need of a fresh coat of paint and other im- 
provements, till the conditions are really disgraceful. 
The stranger is impressed at once with the crying need 
of repair, while the owner, who has become adjusted to 
things as they are, is oblivious to real conditions. The 
same may be said of a man or often of his family, who 
do not notice that his hair has grown so long that it is a 
subject of gossip in the neighborhood. So it is fre- 
quently with the ways, manners, and methods of teach- 
ers. They do not realize that their teaching and their 
methods are in need of paint or that they are so " wild 
and woolly " that they are sorely in need of tonsorial 
treatment. 

It frequently happens that a man, in planning a house 
which he contemplates building, is afraid of showing his 
plans to others, and least of all to an architect, for fear 
of hearing adverse criticisms on them and of having 
what he considered strong features pointed out to him 
as weaknesses. We are all prone to feel an evil security 
in our own thinking and modes of conduct. The man 
who is partly intoxicated thinks himself sober, and 
imagines that no one else knows that he has been drink- 
ing at all. Similar tendencies, conditions, and delusions 
are all too prevalent among teachers. They can not see 
themselves as others see them. But in the case of the 
progressive owner, if perchance he should forget, the 



Preface ix 

dilapidated condition of his house and premises need 
only be suggested to him or presented to him by a 
striking contrast, to have it remedied at once ; and the 
man whose hair has grown long, unnoticed by him, will 
be brought to a realizing sense of neglect when his wife 
returns home from an absence ! The man of any appre- 
ciation of the fitness of things will admit at once the 
faults in his house plan when an architect shows him 
its errors and tells him why they are such. There are 
many things which we have all been unconsciously or 
thoughtlessly neglecting and which need only be pointed 
out to us to receive our hearty indorsement ; and there 
are other things which we have been practicing, which 
need only be mentioned as errors in order to be seen as 
such. And so it is in the methods of the teacher. 

The purpose of this book is not to serve as a con- 
secutive and detailed methodology, but as a discussion, 
as concretely illustrated as possible, which will, it is 
hoped, awaken or arouse elementary teachers to a real- 
ization of many common-sense injunctions or warnings 
which need only be mentioned, to be obeyed or avoided. 
The teacher must, in the last resort, be depended upon, 
with the aid of texts and courses of study, to work out, 
consecutively and minutely, the subject-matter and the 
procedure from hour to hour and from day to day. 
There are many good books on detailed methodology 
which would be of such specific help in the various sub- 
jects. This volume, however, is intended to discuss 
many of the chief points or turns of procedure and of 
methods, in the large ; to point out fields and directions 
to be sought and followed or to be shunned and avoided. 
Its aim is to arouse and awaken teachers from a kind of 



x Preface 

habitual lethargy; to cause teachers, whether in the 
rural districts or the schools of the city, whether young 
and inexperienced or old and full of experience, to make 
a professional self-examination, to set up for themselves 
standards of teaching and a true perspective of values. 

We all need to revivify ourselves in regard to our 
methods of teaching. The author feels that he has 
been helped by his own discussion of the subject in the 
present volume and he hopes that his readers will be 
benefited, if only to a lesser extent, by the reading of it. 
We all need to consider and reconsider our habitual 
modes of conduct, especially in such a complex art as 
teaching. To re-awaken ourselves in this way brings 
upon us a reflex wave of thought and feeling that can 
not be other than beneficial. We need, everywhere, 
thoughtful and rational methods of adapting means to 
ends in education and in teaching. 

The aim in the writing of every chapter has been to 
give aid in a concrete and definite way to teachers of 
the common school subjects and to arouse impulses and 
resolutions for better things in the minds of elementary 
teachers, supervisors, and superintendents everywhere. 
It is hoped that every elementary teacher may find in 
her individual reading of it much that will be practical 
and uplifting ; that it may be of service in method courses 
in normal schools and reading circles and that super- 
visors and superintendents may find in it the keynote 
for more initiative on the part of teachers and more 
self-activity on the part of pupils. 

Definiteness of aim is one of the most desirable things 
in the method and life of a teacher. If the aim is 
always clearly in mind, a teacher will usually find a way 



Preface xi 

or make one. The author attempts to show that clear 
definite pictures both in the aim and in the means are a 
wonderful help and inducement to progress by both 
teacher and pupils. 

The author has avoided in his discussions the philo- 
sophical and highly speculative on the one hand, and 
the details of the hour and the day, which must in any 
event be left to the teacher, on the other. He has 
avoided ultimate analyses of methods and of subjects 
and has confined himself to the elementary point of view. 

Upon request of the author that some concession be 
made to his advocacy (in Chapter IX) of some revision 
of English spelling, The Macmillan Company very kindly 
allowed a deviation from their usual orthography in 
the case of those words whose revised spelling is well 
established. 

The author wishes to extend his thanks and to ac- 
knowledge his indebtedness to Mr. Rudyard Kipling 
and to Mr. Hamlin Garland for their kindness and 
courtesy in allowing the use of their selections for illus- 
trative purposes in the text. 

JOSEPH KENNEDY. 

The University of North Dakota, 
May, 1915. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Chapter I. The Teacher and Methods .... 1 

Methods, our masters . 1 

The environment 1 

The workman or his tool 3 

Fundamentals 4 

Personal moral attributes 5 

Other attributes 7 

The school atmosphere 9 

Illustrations 10 

Extremes 11 

Friends 12 

The teacher after all 12 

Chapter II. Clear Picturing 13 

What does this mean ? . . . . . .13 

Clear mental pictures 13 

Idols of the market ......... 14 

Lack of true pictures 15 

Why some writers are obscure 16 

The dictionary habit 16 

Different fields .17 

Failure to picture correctly 17 

In writing .19 

In spelling 19 

In arithmetic 20 

In geography 21 

In history 22 

" English as she is taught " 22 

Chapter III. The Most Prevalent Mistake ... 24 

Telling vs. teaching 24 

Activity vs. passivity 25 

xiii 



xiv Contents 

PAGE 

Illustrations 26 

Freedom and self-activity 28 

Quality vs. quantity • . .30 

Chapter IV. The Recitation Period 31 

Minds meet and level up 31 

A testing time . . . 31 

Wrestling with the problem 32 

A guide to the teacher 34 

The review — " Apperception mass " 34 

Introduction to the next lesson . 36 

Expression 37 

The teacher's part 38 

Necessary formality 39 

Arousing interest 39 

Summary 41 

Chapter V. Reading: Fundamental Principles . . 42 

Most important subject 42 

As a medium 42 

As a mirror 43 

As a master key . .44 

An easy but neglected art 44 

Silent and oral ......... 44 

Falling down 45 

Clear understanding 46 

Understanding, liking, and expression . . . . .47 

The reading 48 

Choosing selections 48 

Pictures on memory's wall ....... 49 

Chapter VI. Reading: A Criticism of Methods . . 51 

A common method 51 

" Read the first paragraph " 51 

Edwin Booth 52 

What repetition will do 53 

No enrichment 54 

Fruitless criticisms 54 

" Elocution " . 55 

Variations 55 

Sources 57 



Contents xv 

PAGE 

Promotions 58 

Reading from a history 59 

The notebook 59 

Chapter VII. Reading : The Beginnings .... 61 

At six years of age 61 

From the auditory to the visual 62 

The word, the basis 63 

Methods and methods 63 

Teaching foreign children to read 64 

The alphabet method 65 

The phonic key . 67 

A case in beginnings 68 

The first three months . . 68 

First readers 69 

The test of the pudding 69 

Expression in writing 70 

The pupil dependent in reading 71 

Form and content in the tool stage 71 

Words — total, known, and used 72 

Chapter VIII. Reading: Sample Lessons .... 74 

Aims and methods similar 74 

The presentation 74 

Preparatory information . . 76 

Work for the pupils 77 

Preliminary questions 77 

The old way and the poor way 79 

Proximate analysis ......... 79 

The reading . . . 80 

The return wave 81 

A study of details 81 

Different versions 82 

Punctuation and pauses . . . . . . .82 

Biography of the author 83 

Avoid too much thoroness 83 

Gems in brief 84 

Another example 85 

The preparation and questions 85 

The emphasis of time 86 



xvi Contents 

PAGE 

The reading period, a holy time 87 

One selection may suggest another .... .88 

Freedom in details 88 

Chapter IX. Word Work: The Form . . . . . 89 

Spelling, or orthography 89 

Mere spelling, not sufficient 89 

Syllabication, important 90 

Methods of syllabication 90 

In oral spelling 91 

Pronunciation and enunciation 92 

Words often mispronounced 93 

Difficult sounds for foreigners .94 

Oral or written word work 95 

Rules for spelling 96 

Writing misspelled words 97 

Words often misspelled .98 

Diacritical marks 99 

Spelling reform 100 

Chapter X. Word Work: The Inwardness of Words . 102 

What is most important ? 102 

Slang words 103 

Abused words 104 

How meanings are learned 105 

Word revelations 106 

Words differ in interest 107 

One sample of an interesting phase 107 

Meaning of proper names 108 

Word structure 109 

Some important prefixes and suffixes 109 

Another interesting sample Ill 

Samples of interesting etymology 112 

Technical terms in word work 113 

Lesson assignment 114 

Sources 115 

Chapter XI. Writing . 116 

With reading at first 116 

The present status 116 



Contents xvii 

PAGE 

Copy-book work 117 

Copy books made to sell 118 

Careful beginnings 120 

Motive 120 

An artistic writer 121 

The teacher's part 122 

Aims .122 

Writing, a means, not an end . . . . . . 124 

Systems of writing 125 

Analysis of letters 125 

Slants 126 

The children suffer 127 

Much note taking and haste 127 

In adolescence 128 

Can a poor writer teach writing ? . 128 

Chapter XII. Language Work : Elementary . . . 130 

The home 130 

The school 130 

United with other subjects 131 

No separate period 131 

Oral and written speech 132 

A written recitation 133 

Growth of compositional power 134 

The silent pupil 135 

Not too much interference 135 

The best only, acceptable 136 

The inductive procedure 136 

The criterion of good language 137 

Capitalization and punctuation 137 

Backbone words 138 

The tabooed list 138 

Occasions for language teaching 140 

The recitation, oral and written 140 

Reproduction of a story 141 

The interpretation of a picture 142 

Letter writing 142 

Blackboard work 143 

Compositions 143 

Paragraphing 144 



xviii Contents 

PAGE 

Correction by marginal signs . . . . . . . . 145 

Dictation 146 

The hearing needs training 147 

The typewriter 148 

Idea of quantity, too prevalent 148 

A textbook in language 149 

Chapter XIII. Language Work : Advanced . . . 150 

Language lessons and grammar 150 

Grammar somewhat abstract 150 

Grammar, psychology, and logic 151 

Where to begin 152 

Why disliked . 152 

The sentence, a cosmos 153 

Thought material 154 

Ideas, not words, related 155 

Subject and predicate 155 

The identical sentence 156 

Grammar, a part of language work 157 

Sentence analysis 157 

How ideas work 158 

Parsing 159 

A too common situation 159 

Grammar, a science ; not an art 160 

Does grammar aid in good language ? 160 

The diagram 161 

Grammatical terminology 162 

Difficult to teach 164 

Chapter XIV. Arithmetic: Elementary .... 165 

In primary grades 165 

The Grube method 166 

Abstract from the concrete 167 

Avoid slavery to the concrete 167 

Too much time on arithmetic 169 

A revival of mental arithmetic 170 

A tool to fight our environment 170 

Translation of Arabic signs into English .... 170 

Neat figures 171 

Teaching the decimal conception 172 



Contents xix 

PAGE 

Notation and numeration 172 

Rapidity 173 

Some points in addition 173 

The multiplication table 174 

Imagination in arithmetic 175 

The sign of multiplication 177 

The precedence of signs . 178 

Basis of cancellation . 179 

Figures should tell the truth ....... 179 

The proper form in multiplication 179 

The form of division 180 

Chapter XV. Arithmetic : Advanced 182 

Acquired incidentally 182 

" Fractions," not new 182 

Clear conception of fractions important 183 

Only like units can be united 184 

Greatest common divisor and least common multiple . . 186 

Employed in fractions . , 186 

Terms should be explained 187 

Invert the divisor 188 

The unit of the fraction . . . . . . . .189 

A problem and its solution 189 

The question, " Of what ? " 190 

Some algebra, or general arithmetic 191 

Old friends in new masks . . . . . . 191 

The decimal plan .192 

The use of the decimal point 194 

Origin of the decimal system 196 

Beware of the " and " . . 196 

Imagination in arithmetic 197 

(1) The area of the circle 197 

(2) The Pythagorean theorem 198 

(3) A lumber problem 199 

(4) The bushel 200 

(5) The gallon 201 

(6) Ambiguous terms in weights 201 

The metric system 202 

The commercial part of arithmetic ...... 203 

Ratio and proportion 205 



xx Contents 

PAGE 

Square and cube root ........ 206 

Wake up mind 207 

Chapter XVI. Geography 209 

Purpose of the study 209 

At first correlated and incidental 209 

The systematic teaching of geography ..... 210 

The proper procedure 212 

Clear picturing 213 

The idea of location 214 

The idea of direction 215 

The globe as a whole 216 

Analysis as well as synthesis 216 

Topics and questions on the globe 217 

Relative magnitudes of facts 219 

Isolated and barren facts 220 

Some dependence on memory 221 

Reason in geography 221 

Map drawing 223 

Relative sizes and distances 225 

Other helps 226 

An outline 226 

Practical applications 227 

Chapter XVII. History 228 

At first wrapped up with reading 228 

The beginning and sequence 229 

Use a good text 230 

Correlation by side excursions 230 

Geography the handmaid of history 231 

Kings and wars too prominent 232 

History not a " narrative of events " . . . . . 233 

Should not be too philosophical 233 

The golden mean 234 

Facts and principles of first magnitude 234 

Memorizing history 235 

History and patriotism 236 

Ideals and history 237 

Is history " true " ? 238 

Method and results 238 

Grasp of movements in the large — samples .... 238 



Contents xxi 

PAGE 

Chapter XVIII. Hygiene ....... 241 

Importance 241 

Hygiene taught topically 241 

Not anatomy 242 

Nor physiology 242 

Knowing and doing 242 

Hygiene 243 

Clear presentation 243 

The chief topics branch out : samples 244 

1. Respect for the body . . . .' . . 244 

{a) Bathing 245 

(b) Sex hygiene 246 

2. The germ theory of disease 247 

(a) Consumption 248 

(b) Typhoid fever (call-back instruction) . . 249 

(c) Lockjaw 250 

(d) Trichinosis 250 

(e) Flies 251 

3. Fresh air 251 

(a) Unventilated public buildings . . . 252 

(b) An illustration 252 

(c) The Black Hole of Calcutta . . . .252 

(d) Breathing exercises 253 

4. Care of the eyes and ears 253 

(a) The lighting . . . . . .254 

(b) Restful colors 254 

{c) Defects of vision and hearing . . . 254 

5. Care of the teeth 255 

6. Exercise and play 256 

(a) Outside games 256 

(b) Indoor gymnastics ...... 257 

(c) What to emphasize and avoid . . . 257 

7. Alcohol and narcotics 258 

8. Miscellaneous . . 259 

9. References 259 

Chapter XIX. The Teaching of Morals .... 261 

Indirect teaching best 261 

The moralizing power of the teacher 262 

The moralizing power of schoolmates 263 



xxii Contents 

PAGB 

Habits of preparation and presentation 264 

The subjects themselves moralize 265 

(a) Arithmetic 265 

(b) Language 265 

(c) Geography 266 

(d) Science 267 

(e) History 268 

(/) Reading 269 

Subject-matters ethicized 269 

Good pictures . . . . 270 

Influence of music 271 

The school organization 272 

Watch for defacements 273 

By reading and telling stories . . . . . . . 274 

A collection of literary gems 275 

First prepare the soil 278 

Favorite maxims 278 

Short biographies 279 

The school spirit 279 

Self-assumed law 280 

Morals in the public schools 280 

Chapter XX. The Special Subjects 282 

The school a sample of real life 282 

The newer subjects 282 

I. Music . . .283 

Importance 283 

An advantage in school government . . 283 

Not merely formal 284 

Not a merely feminine subject . . . 284 

Should not be discredited .... 284 

The proper procedure 285 

What to avoid and emphasize .... 285 

Materials and equipment 285 

The aim 286 

II. Drawing and Art 286 

Danger of formalism 286 

Content needed 287 

The aim .287 

The equipment 288 



Contents xxiii 

PAGH 

Care of materials 288 

Topics 289 

Sources of information and supplies . . 289 

III. Nature Study 289 

Importance 289 

Not microscopic 290 

The aim 290 

First-hand knowledge 291 

Some source references 291 

IV. Agriculture 292 

The nation awakens to its importance . . 292 

Competent teachers needed .... 292 

What to avoid 293 

Rural life in proper light .... 293 

Some specific topics 294 

Farmstead conveniences 294 

Reference books 294 

V. Domestic Science, or Home Economics . . . 295 

Its value .295 

The aim 295 

What can be done 296 

Equipment and material 297 

References and sources 297 

VI. Manual Training 298 

Value of expression 298 

Correlates with life 298 

Scope 299 

Equipment and room 299 

References and sources 300 

VII. "Wake up Mind" . 301 

An important period 301 

A few sample topics 301 

Contagious interest ...... 302 

Chapter XXI. Methods in School Management . . 304 

Importance 304 

A good letter of application 304 

Contract 305 

Go in time 305 

" Get into the game " 306 



xxiv Contents 

PAGE 

The first day . . .306 

Masterfulness 307 

Proper seating of pupils 308 

Don't boast or " knock " ....... 308 

Few rules 308 

A test case . . 309 

Visit the homes 310 

Don't teach the home school 310 

Signals in the schoolroom - . 311 

Keep the machinery in the background 312 

The proper atmosphere and spirit 312 

A clock and program 313 

Regular and punctual 314 

Teach how to study 314 

Mental habits 315 

A slave to text or course of study 315 

Repeating answers 317 

Stand or sit ? 317 

Reviews 318 

Call back instruction 318 

Nagging, an abominable vice 319 

Supervise the playground 319 

Cleanliness . . 319 

School entertainments 320 

The teacher should grow 320 



FUNDAMENTALS IN METHODS 



FUNDAMENTALS IN METHODS 

CHAPTER I 

THE TEACHER AND METHODS 

Methods, Our Masters. — Talleyrand said that 
methods are the masters of teachers — " Les methodes 
sont maitres des maitres." This is probably true in the 
sense that a person becomes a bundle of habits. Habit- 
ual methods may be either a servant or a master, either 
good or bad. If we use them with discretion and effi- 
ciency they are our servants, our means ; but if we fall into 
ruts in bad methods, then they become our hard and 
evil taskmaster. Many school boards, in inquiring 
about applicants for vacancies, lay much stress upon 
mere experience ; but experience may be an evil rather 
than a good, if the teacher has fallen into bad methods 
of teaching. One who has had no experience but who 
has made a study of the problems of education and 
the schoolroom and who has an open mind — always 
growing and always ready and willing to learn — gives 
much more promise of success than one who has had 
long experience in routine methods of questionable effi- 
ciency. 

The Environment. — As methods are a large factor in 
the success or failure of a teacher, so likewise is the 



2 Fundamentals in Methods 

general environment of the school. Environment means 
much in the education of the child. It means much, 
too, for the teacher, for it determines very largely her 
methods and her success. The school period, from about 
six years of age up to maturity, is the pliable and plastic 
stage of life. Impressions are rapidly taken and tena- 
ciously held. The mind of the child, while not, as Locke 
says, like a wax tablet upon which the environment 
makes impressions, is at least a bundle of instincts and 
activities which may be fashioned, developed, or in- 
hibited with great readiness under external influences. 
" As the twig is bent the tree is inclined," and as the 
human twig is bent the human tree will be inclined. 
Consequently there should be thrown around children 
in their school home the most educative and cultural 
influences possible. There should be a large and attrac- 
tive school ground, neatly fenced and well kept in all 
respects ; there should be trees, shrubbery, and flowers. 
The schoolhouse should be architectural in appearance 
and be characterized by fitness of means to ends in all its 
appointments. The seating should be adapted to the 
children and hygienically arranged with reference to the 
light ; the walls should be done in colors both artistic 
and restful; there should be a few beautiful pictures 
which would be a good influence in the life of the children 
during the days, months, and years of their childhood 
and youth. The word " influence " means inflowing; 
and one can not live in the presence of a great picture for 
any length of time, any more than he can live with a 
great person, without taking into his own life something 
of the reality represented. This is nicely illustrated in 



The Teacher and Methods 3 

that charming story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, called 
" The Great Stone Face." 

There should also be in the schoolroom all the material 
supplies, in the way of books, both regular and supple- 
mentary, dictionaries, library, laboratory, and apparatus 
generally which are necessary to the success of a school. 
No workman can do his work well without the tools 
wherewith to work. And so the whole environment of 
the teacher and the pupils, natural, esthetic, and practical, 
should be the most uplifting and stimulating possible. 
All these things are the means, the tool, in the education 
of the pupils. 

The Workman or his Tool. — But the tool will not 
work alone. There must be behind the tool an efficient 
worker. However important the material environment, 
in the way of grounds, building, and apparatus, may be, 
the most important factor in any school is the teacher. 
The teacher is, in a true sense, the soul of the school. 
As is the teacher, so is the school: live teacher, live 
school; dead teacher, dead school. The teacher cor- 
responds to the mainspring of a watch. He keeps every- 
thing going. It was James A. Garfield who said of his 
own teacher, Mark Hopkins, that he would be a good 
college, sitting on the end of a log. And certainly, if 
one had to choose between a great teacher with a poor 
equipment on the one hand and a poor teacher with a 
good equipment on the other, he would not long hesitate 
in his choice. The real master, the expert mechanic, 
with the poorer tool may secure results far in advance 
of the poorer mechanic with a good tool. The poor 
mechanic, the bungler, is always blaming his tools. 



4 Fundamentals in Methods 

Fundamentals. — Since the teacher is central in the 
whole school situation, it is pertinent to discuss, in 
short, some of the characteristics of a good teacher and 
some of the factors which make for his success : 

(i) In the first place, it goes without saying that such 
a teacher should be in good physical health and free 
from physical deformities of a serious nature. The 
physically well teacher is likely to be more cheerful and 
more just, and to have a saner perspective of life and of 
education than one who is not. People, too, with pro- 
nounced physical defects — those with defective eyes 
or ears, cripples, and similarly deformed people — should 
not be allowed to teach ; for children are imitative and 
impressionable, and serious physical defects are ever- 
present objects of imitation or elicit an undesirable 
response whether conscious or unconscious. They must 
have a depressing effect on children thru the months 
and years of an impressionable age. 

(2) Then, secondly, the one who presumes to stand 
before children to teach them — to act as a guide for 
them — should have been over the ground himself in 
the subject-matter to be taught, and should be clear in 
regard to all the highways and byways in the subject; 
in other words, he should have a clear intellectual 
grasp of the subject to be taught. He should have what 
might be called an " easy mind " in it ; that is, he should, 
in a way, be willing to challenge discussion on any point 
or phase of the subject which he is teaching. He should 
have clear mental pictures or definite concepts in every 
phase of the subject, whether it be grammar, arithmetic, 
algebra, or what not. The bane of teaching every- 



The Teacher and Methods 5 

where is obscurity of thought and imagination. Many 
pupils do not understand a subject because they do not 
get, from day to day, clear mental pictures of the subject- 
matter. 

(3) In the next place, a teacher should, of course, be 
of good moral character in every respect. A person can 
teach only what he is, in the field of morals as else- 
where. The liar can not teach truth, in the long run ; 
the dishonest person can not teach honesty; the im- 
pure person can not teach purity ; and so it is of every 
virtue. We can give only what we have, and we tend 
to elicit in others a response to our own nature and 
characteristics. 

Personal Moral Attributes. — It is difficult to de- 
scribe what personality is ; it is so mysterious and intan- 
gible. But there are some moral characteristics which 
may be mentioned as especially indicative of strength 
in the teacher. We give only a few, but from these 
we may judge all — ah uno disce omnes. 

(1) One attribute, which deserves to be mentioned 
first and which is fundamental, is justice. Children 
in the schoolroom will put up with much if they think 
and feel that the teacher is just; and there is nothing 
that so weakens the teacher's influence and alienates 
his pupils from him as the f eeling on their part that he is 
not just, that he is partial, that he has favorites. He 
may be severe and even cruel at times, but if they consider 
his treatment just they are ready to defend him. 

(2) Another characteristic is that of truthfulness; 
it is at the foundation of confidence. If a teacher is 
caught in deception, in prevarication, in deviation from 



6 Fundamentals in Methods 

the truth, even in small things, the pupils lose their 
respect for him ; and while it may be that children are 
not, as is sometimes thought, the best judges of the moral 
character of a person, it is nevertheless true that sooner 
or later they will see thru deceit or untruthfulness of 
any kind. 

(3) Sincerity is another characteristic which a teacher 
must possess in order to be successful. This is difficult 
to describe ; it is something that is felt rather than seen. 
It is a kind of flavor of the personality which is sensed by 
a sort of intuition. It may be tinged to advantage, both 
with seriousness and light-heartedness. Sincerity in 
no way conflicts with a sunshiny and humorous dis- 
position — in fact, they go together. 

(4) It is doubtful whether a person who has no 
humor should teach. A vein of humor is a saving grace ; 
there is no objection, whatever, to the teacher's and 
pupils' indulging in a good hearty laugh together. 
There is always room in every serious occupation for 
a good joke ; it lets in a ray of sunshine, and we are 
bound more closely together by means of it. This does 
not mean, of course, that indulgence to an extreme in 
this direction is a schoolroom virtue; it might degen- 
erate into buffoonery; but the teacher who has this 
virtue with the others, in due proportion, will see to it 
that no such extreme occurs. In fact, the danger is 
that schoolrooms go to the other extreme of over- 
seriousness and solemnity, if not sadness. 

(5) Without the further enumeration of the moral 
characteristics of a personality that seem most desir- 
able in a teacher, there is one which should not be 



The Teacher and Methods 7 

omitted. It is brought out in an artistic literary climax 
in the following little poem by John Boyle O'Reilly: 

WHAT IS THE REAL GOOD? 

"What is the real good?" 
I asked in musing mood : 
"Order," said the law court ; 
"Knowledge," said the school; 
"Truth," said the wise man; 
"Pleasure," said the fool; 
"Love," said the maiden; 
"Beauty," said the page; 
"Freedom," said the dreamer; 
"Home," said the sage; 
"Fame," said the soldier; 
"Equity," the seer ; — 
Spake my heart full sadly : 
"The answer is not here." 

Then within my bosom 
Softly this I heard : 

"Each heart holds the secret ; 

Kindness is the word." 

Other Attributes. — Having given a few of the 
moral virtues which should be possessed by the true 
teacher, it may be well to give a few characteristics of 
the teacher from other points of view. 

(1) The real teacher is a leader; he is a guide; he 
professes to have been over the ground and to know 
the way. In going over the Alps, for example, if two 
persons should offer themselves as guides, one saying 
that he has never been over the road before but that he 
feels sure he can take the visitor safely across, and the 



8 Fundamentals in Methods 

other saying that he has been over the road many times 
and knows every byway and landmark, there would 
be but little doubt as to which guide would be chosen. 
And so the true teacher is one who is presumed to be a 
professional guide, who knows all the paths, all the cross- 
roads, and all the dangerous places. 

(2) The true teacher is what might be called a re- 
vealer, an inspirer, of truth. Under his inspiration the 
blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk. He feeds the 
mentally hungry and breaks the bread of life ; he gives 
drink to the thirsty from the fountains of his own mind 
and life. He opens up to the child new fields of thought ; 
he takes the pupil to different points of view, and when 
a subject is completed the pupil has seen it in all its 
relations. The pupil has made it his own, for the teacher 
has revealed to him the thought system of that subject. 
No pupil is being much benefited unless he feels the thrill 
of inspiration and revelation in the subject being studied. 
To inspire means to breathe into, and the true teacher 
breathes into the pupil his own spirit, his own enthusiasm, 
his own mental hunger and thirst. 

(3) The teacher is also an interpreter of life, and the 
problem of the teacher is to induce the pupil to think a 
subject as it is thought by others. A mediator means 
a go-between; and the problem of the teacher is to 
bring the pupil and the subject together so that the 
former appropriates the latter and makes it his own — 
makes it his very self. The school itself, like the teacher, 
is a mediator between the individual and society. Their 
function and aim is to raise the pupil from the plane of 
the individual to the plane of the race. The problem 



The Teacher and Methods 9 

of the school is to make this transfer in the shortest 
possible time with the aid and cooperation of the pupils 
themselves. It has taken the human race thousands of 
years to work out and formulate in a systematic way 
the bundle of thought known as " algebra '■ ; but the 
teacher and the school, with the hearty cooperation of 
the pupil, can hand over to him this bundle of thought 
upon a silver platter, so to speak, in a single year. Their 
great function is to short-circuit the long and laborious 
process of the ages. When a pupil has thought the 
subject of algebra he has taken over to himself and in 
fact has made a part of himself that which has taken the 
human race untold generations to achieve; and so 
the teacher is an interpreter to the pupil, of the thought 
and the life of educated society at its highest levels. 
The School Atmosphere. — In all this leading, re- 
vealing, inspiring, and interpreting, there should be the 
most cordial and sympathetic cooperation between 
teacher and pupils. The mental and social atmosphere 
should be right. The attitude of pupils and teacher 
toward each other should be one of mutual love and 
respect. Where this atmosphere and this attitude do 
not exist the true educative process can not obtain. 
Socrates of old said that a pupil can not learn from one 
whom he does not love. We see the truth of this ex- 
emplified everywhere. If the child loves and respects 
his teacher he believes everything she says and defends 
everything she does; but if he has no respect for the 
teacher — if he detests and hates her — he neither 
believes nor defends her. In fact she is a blight upon 
his life and, instead of being educated, he is, in a true 



io Fundamentals in Methods 

sense, being de-educated. It would be better for such 
a pupil to be out of school, reveling in his native wildness 
and freedom, than to be undergoing a blighting, souring, 
and shriveling mental process. 

Illustrations. — As children, we all, no doubt, have 
put a string thru the holes of a button and throwing 
it over each thumb have twirled it and drawn it back 
and forth so as to make it hum. This process sym- 
bolizes a good school : Where a teacher is, so to speak, 
drawing the school rhythmically and harmoniously every- 
thing moves well and there is present the hum of in- 
dustry. But if the button or the school be not drawn 
harmoniously and rhythmically the whole thing becomes 
" balled up " in a snarl and all is chaos. This hum of 
industry is always preferable to the silence of death. 
The latter condition sometimes prevails under the in- 
fluence of fear. There is no objection to considerable 
noise if it is of the right kind. 

The teacher is, in a true sense, a hypnotist. The 
children under his care are in a suggestive and impres- 
sionable condition. If the right atmosphere and 
attitude prevail, the children are ready to receive sug- 
gestions instantly ; and this is the most favorable condi- 
tion for the process called education. Whenever the 
school atmosphere is such that the suggestions of the 
teacher are carried out immediately and willingly by 
the pupils the best condition prevails. Lew Wallace, 
in his description of the chariot race, makes Ben Hur and 
his rival come in to the goal with their horses neck and 
neck, and he says that Ben Hur seemed to " send his 
will out along the reins." A spirited horse likes to feel 



The Teacher and Methods n 

the thrill from his driver's hand. The driver, in a true 
sense, sends his will out along the reins. This situation 
also symbolizes and illustrates a good school. If the 
school responds in a sympathetic way, the condition is 
right for true teaching. There are many schools where, 
instead of the reins' being held reasonably tight and where 
everything moves with enthusiasm and spirit, they are 
over the dashboard and the school is running away 
pell-mell ! 

Extremes. — The old-type teacher of a generation or 
two ago was noted for extreme severity. Fear on the 
part of the pupils and cruelty on the part of the master 
prevailed almost everywhere. Punishments, often severe 
and whimsical, were inflicted on all occasions and for 
minor and unintentional offenses. This seems to have 
been a part of the spirit of the age. The old-time 
severity was not conducive to true education: Fear 
always paralyzes rather than stimulates. It does not 
elicit self-control and cooperation, which are the very 
essence of the educative process. It may be true that 
we have gone to the other extreme in the " soft pedagog- 
ics/' so often met with to-day. It frequently happens 
now that teachers wear their lives away and verge on 
nervous prostration, worrying night and day in order 
to induce, thru love and kindness, viciously inclined 
boys and girls to do the right and proper thing in school. 
There is no reason why corporal punishment should 
not be used in certain exceptional cases. In fact, a 
good, swift case of such punishment would be more 
wholesome to the pupil and to the school than scolding, 
nagging, and worrying on the part of the teacher. There 



12 Fundamentals in Methods 

is no reason why the body should be more respected 
and protected than the mind ; soul stabbing and mind 
souring are much worse for all concerned than the excep- 
tional case of corporal pain. 

Friends. — All of the foregoing attributes and illus- 
trations imply that the teacher and the pupils axe friends. 
This relation and its recognition by the pupils are indis- 
pensable. There can be neither good school government, 
good methods, nor effective learning and teaching where 
the teacher is not recognized as a friend. A high school 
teacher once told the author that it took him three 
weeks to convince a pupil that he was his friend. One 
Friday he asked the boy if he ever went hunting. The 
boy's eyes began to brighten and on the teacher's 
invitation the two went hunting on Saturday. After 
that the boy was convinced. The teacher hit upon 
Francis Murphy's method of approaching the boy from 
the " south " side. Needless to say that the boy was a 
good student from that day on. 

The Teacher after All. — While methods, then, are 
very important, as we hope to show in the following 
chapters, it is the teacher behind the methods, the atti- 
tude of the teacher and pupils toward each other, and 
the general atmosphere of the school that are funda- 
mental in school life and education generally. 



CHAPTER II 

CLEAR PICTURING 

What does this Mean? — Probably the best thing a 
teacher can do is to give to her pupils clear, definite 
pictures corresponding to the words or phrases or to 
language, generally. Vivid picturing is essential to 
clear understanding in every field; without it the con- 
tent of every subject remains indefinite and hazy. It 
may truthfully be said that pupils do not learn their 
lessons and do not understand the subject-matter in 
hand because they do not get clear, definite pictures 
from the words and sentences which they are reading. 
They do not learn their lessons simply because they 
can not read; for reading is simply gleaning, or gathering, 
the thought from the printed page. The language on 
the page is simply the form ; the word is only the shell 
which contains the kernel, the husk covering the ear. 
Every word and sentence has a content; the language 
is the outwardness, and the content is the inwardness 
of it. Now, if children have merely the words without 
their meaning they have the shell without the kernel; 
the husk without the ear. The great question of the 
teacher upon all occasions should be, " What does this 
mean ? " 

Clear Mental Pictures. — Children, and in fact most 
people, are usually satisfied with mere words. This 

13 



14 Fundamentals in Methods 

is illustrated in the case of the boy whose mother tongue 
was not the English, who had read thru the first 
reader and could read, apparently, as well as any of the 
others, but who afterwards testified that he did not 
understand a thing that was said. It was " words, 
words, words." This, of course, implied poor teaching. 
Most teachers would find, upon making an investigation, 
that much of the thought of children is quite obscure. 
The boy referred to above probably gathered or gleaned 
only about five per cent of the thought. The teacher's 
work is to see to it that the children glean much more 
than this. It can not be expected, of course, that chil- 
dren gather ioo per cent of the thought of a writer; 
in fact, the total thought can not be transferred to 
any one. But certainly sufficient time, study, and 
conference should be devoted to a lesson to enable a 
pupil to gather 75 per cent or more of the thought. 
Every selection, or piece of writing of any kind, should 
cause to arise in the mind of the reader a series of 
pictures, a real panorama ; — and if some of the words, 
phrases, or sentences in that writing cause no pictures 
to arise in the mind of the reader there are so many 
blanks, blotches, or daubs on the panoramic picture 
as a whole. 

Idols of the Market. — Language is but a go-between, 
or mediator, between the writer or speaker and the 
reader or hearer. Language is the representative of the 
mind of the speaker or writer, and when it does its 
work it produces a more or less accurate replica in the 
mind of the reader or hearer. When this language is 
not understood no corresponding picture is awakened 



Clear Picturing 15 

or elicited in the other mind. When ambiguous language 
is used a wrong picture is formed in the other person's 
mind. This is often the case. Very many words have 
an ambiguous, or double, meaning and when such lan- 
guage is used the speaker and the hearer do not under- 
stand each other; language does not truly mediate or 
function. This has been the cause, and is still the cause, 
of most of the misunderstandings, quarrels, controver- 
sies, and even wars of the world. Bacon called words 
" idols of the market," meaning by this that words are 
like coins passing current from hand to hand and having 
different values for different people. One person thinks 
more of a dollar than another does of a hundred dollars ; 
and each person is so firmly convinced that his own 
meaning and value of words are true that he is willing 
to fight and even to die for them ; he really worships his 
own meanings and, consequently, words are, in a true 
sense, " idols of the market." 

Lack of True Pictures. — The philosopher, John 
Locke, said that if two persons who disagree radically 
should lay aside all prejudices, secure all the facts 
in the case, and seek truth, solely, they would come 
closer and closer together and finally agree. This state- 
ment is no doubt true. It is language that is the dis- 
torting medium between human minds; but, since it 
is the only medium we have for the transmission of 
thought, we must make the best of it. But in the school- 
room, as elsewhere, the teacher should see to it that 
language carries over truthfully and representatively; 
that pupils get the right ideas, the right concepts, the 
true pictures which the language is intended to convey. 



1 6 Fundamentals in Methods 

Why Some Writers are Obscure. — The reason that 
the writings of some men are but little read, even when 
they are meritorious, as in the case of Browning, is that 
the reader does not get clear, vivid, and mentally satis- 
fying pictures from the words and sentences used. For 
the reader it is words, words, words! The thought, 
however beautiful it may be to those who are able to 
realize it, is too deep, too remote from the ordinary 
reader's experience, or too analogical to be grasped and 
pictured; hence the average reader gets only the form. 
Browning has but few readers, for people, generally, are 
not able to picture vividly his more or less philosophical 
content. 

The Dictionary Habit. — Consequently, one of the best 
habits which a teacher can inculcate and ingrain in her 
pupils is what may be aptly termed the " dictionary 
habit." This habit should be formed as early as possible 
— probably in the third or fourth grade. While every 
school should have what is called an unabridged diction- 
ary of some kind, this should be used merely as a supreme 
court — as a court of last resort ; but every pupil should 
have in his own desk — his school home — a small dic- 
tionary of some kind. This he should be taught to avail 
himself of, to resort to, upon every occasion when some 
word comes to his notice which causes no picture to arise 
in his mind. One of the best mental conditions that 
can be induced in a pupil or student is that of feeling 
dissatisfied with not knowing; and one of the worst 
mental states is that of being satisfied with not knowing. 
If a pupil can be taught to turn to his dictionary every 
time some unknown word comes in his way in his school 



Clear Picturing 17 

work, it will be one of the best lessons which a teacher 
or a school can give. 

Different Fields. — There are various kinds of pictures 
and different fields of imagination corresponding to our 
various senses. Most human beings are visual-minded ; 
that is, most of their mental pictures are of the visual 
kind ; probably four fifths of all our mental images are 
of this type. Some persons, especially those who are, by 
heredity, of a musical predisposition, live largely in an 
auditory world, where the pictures are largely of sounds. 
Some persons, like Helen Keller, who have no visual or au- 
ditory sense and who, consequently, live in both a dark and 
a silent world, live in what may be called a tactile world ; 
that is, their world of thought is in terms of touch. The 
pictures in Miss Keller's mind are mostly of this character. 
She has built up a world of consciousness whose elements 
are of the nature of touch. Some animals, like the dog, 
live in what may be termed an olfactory world ; that is, 
a world of smells. In any event, the raw materials of 
our mind, or consciousness, are given us by the senses 
with which we are endowed. Consequently, in order to 
give to pupils a world rich in pictures the senses should 
be carefully cultivated. A teacher should know her 
pupils and appeal to them thru every avenue in their 
experience in order that they may form, as they proceed 
in their studies, vivid pictures in the world of the senses, 
corresponding to the language heard or read. 

Failure to Picture Correctly. — It may be clearly 
shown that progress and proficiency in every line of work 
in the common schools depends upon true and vivid 
picturing. It can also be demonstrated that failure, 



1 8 Fundamentals in Methods 

both in teaching and in studying every subject, is due 
to a lack of ability, natural or acquired, to summon up 
clear mental pictures corresponding to the language 
used. A little girl had heard for a long time the old 
hymn, " Going home to die no more," and had always 
thought that it meant " Going home to Dina More," — 
an aunt of hers, who was always good to children, treat- 
ing them to cakes and other delicacies. A boy who had 
often heard the phrase, " keeping books/' received the 
impression of a man with a gun on his shoulder walking 
up and down before the books in order to keep guard 
over them. The old folk-song, " Comin' thru the 
Rye," is often pictured as a field of rye with a young 
couple walking along the pathway thru it; when, in 
reality, the correct picture is that of a little stream in 
Scotland called the Rye and a couple crossing it, stepping 
from stone to stone. The first sentence in Warren's 
so-called address, " Stand ! the ground's your own, my 
braves ! " was understood by a boy all thru his school 
days and, indeed, until he came to teach it himself, as 
" Stand the grounds ! your own, my braves ! " without 
ever having examined it or taken the trouble to find out 
what the picture was. He was satisfied with words, nor 
did the teacher ever ask the question, " What does this 
mean ? " A line in Scott's " Lady of the Lake," saying of 
the stag, " With one brave bound, the copse he cleared," 
meant to the boy when questioned, that the stag had 
jumped over a group of policemen, or " cops " ! A super- 
intendent, upon questioning a child who had read with 
great gusto the verses, " In that mansion used to be free- 
hearted hospitality," found that the child understood 



Clear Picturing 19 

" mansion " to be "a man who built stone walls/ ' and 
that " hospitality " meant to him " a place where they 
keep sick people." The superintendent then, to the 
confusion of both the child and his teacher, who stood 
near by, said : " That means, then, does it, that in that 
man who builds stone walls used to be a place where they 
kept sick people?" The superintendent said no more 
but left the pupil and the teacher to work it out into clear 
pictures for themselves. 

In Writing. — Success in writing as in every other 
subject depends upon clear picturing. When the proper 
movement and position in writing are acquired in order 
to make continuous writing physically easy, and when the 
proper degree of rapidity is attained by habit in order 
to secure quantitative results, the only thing left in order 
to secure good writing is conformity to proper picturing. 
The slant in writing is not very material. It does not 
make much difference what the slant is if the writing 
be symmetrical; if the strokes in the writing and the 
lines are uniform in direction and harmonious on the 
page, the writing will look good. Of course the letters 
must have their proper general form or pictures, but it 
is irregularity in the direction of the strokes that is 
largely responsible for making writing look bad. This 
will be illustrated more fully in the chapter on writing. 

In Spelling. — The same may be said of spelling : Good 
spelling consists in establishing, by habit, in the mind of 
the pupil, the correct form or picture corresponding to 
the idea. If the correct picture, and that only, is defi- 
nitely engraved upon the pupil's memory there will be 
no trouble about his spelling. The important thing is 



20 Fundamentals in Methods 

to establish a vivid picture of the form of the word cor- 
responding to the sound-word itself, which he already 
knows. 

In Arithmetic. — Clear picturing is all-important in 
the field of arithmetic, also. In fact, children do not 
work their problems because they can not read, which 
means because they can not get a clear, definite picture 
of the situation. When a teacher's institute was asked 
how many bricks it would take to lay one course on a 
chimney whose flue is 4" X 8", they all sat bewildered. 
Soon one hand went up and the person asked, " What 
is a flue ? " Another hand rose and the question came, 
" What is the size of a brick? " Another person asked, 
" Which way do they lay bricks, .flatwise or on edge? " 
It was evident that they could not form a clear picture 
of the chimney situation and, of course, it was impossible 
to work the problem. The instructor also asked whether 
it would be necessary, in laying such a course, to break 
or split a brick. The essential thing here was the forma- 
tion of a clear picture of the chimney. The instructor, 
on walking up town immediately afterwards, met a brick- 
layer whom he asked the same question. The brick- 
layer answered correctly and immediately. He had the 
practical experience which enabled him to form the pic- 
ture instantly. 

A boy failed to solve the following problem because 
he could not read : " An army which had been twice 
decimated in battle now contained 8100 men. How 
many men were there before the battle?" The word 
in this problem which bothered him was " decimated " ; 
this was the unknown word ; this was the blot or blotch 



Clear Picturing 21 

upon the picture ; this, in fact, was the central or pivotal 
word in the situation, and because he could not form a 
picture of it he could not work the problem ; it was the 
key to the situation. He had not formed the dictionary 
habit and somehow it did not occur to him to look up 
the word. If he had done so the whole problem would 
have cleared up and he could have solved it easily. 

Children in the seventh and eighth grades are very 
much at sea in what is called the commercial operations 
in arithmetic. This is not to be wondered at, for they 
can not form clear,defmite pictures of commercial situa- 
tions ; they have never given or received a note ; they 
have never bought nor sold stocks or bonds ; they have 
never discounted commercial paper; and so the whole 
subject is obscure to them. It is remote from their ex- 
periences. For the banker or the stockbroker these 
operations are as concrete as the buying of groceries or of 
clothing. It is not to be wondered at that children from 
twelve to fourteen years of age can not solve such prob- 
lems ; in fact, they should not be required to do so unless 
the situation is made clear and concrete to them. 

In Geography. — The same obscurity and lack of clear 
thinking prevails in the field of geography. Children 
memorize the names of places outside of any possible 
experiences of theirs, and they are often led to think that 
one thing is as important as another. They get wrong 
impressions of the earth situation and sometimes they 
keep these distorted pictures thru life. Most children 
have no idea, no clear picture of the relative posi- 
tion and motions of the earth in the solar system and in 
space. They do not know just why the days get long and 



22 Fundamentals in Methods 

short. In a high school examination the following ques- 
tion was almost universally missed because the pupils 
could not form a corresponding picture. " Can the sun 
ever shine at noon into the north window of a house sit- 
uated 20 degrees north of the equator ? " The pupils 
could not answer such a question correctly and accu- 
rately because they had no mental picture of the reality. 
A boy said that the Nile river rises in the Mediterranean 
sea and flows south, emptying into the middle of Africa ! 
He had a poor geographical picture of what was taking 
place. Another boy, when asked to describe the Red 
River of the North, said it flowed south. When asked 
how he could maintain such an answer, he pointed to a 
map hanging on the north wall and said to the teacher 
that toward the top of the map was north, and toward the 
bottom, south ; and hence that it was impossible for a 
stream to flow up I Illustrations might be given without 
number of the extent to which children have distorted 
and chaotic pictures in every subject. 

In History. — After a class had completed United 
States history in the eighth grade they were asked where 
Gettysburg is; and, altho this great battle was the 
turning point of the war between the North and the 
South, there were- votes in that class for every state on 
the Atlantic coast from Maine to North Carolina. Here 
was a class who had studied United States history for two 
years and who had studied the civil war in its details, 
who did not know, definitely where the great battle of 
Gettsyburg was fought. 

" English as She is Taught." — Without continuing 
further, the lack of fruitage on account of the want of 



Clear Picturing 23 

clear pictures might be illustrated in every subject in 
the curriculum. Some years ago a collection of answers 
was made at the suggestion of Mark Twain, and embod- 
ied in a little work entitled, "English as She is Taught." 
If any teacher is inclined to be lonesome or homesick, 
this little book, which may be procured from any book 
dealer, is recommended as an antidote and panacea. 
The chaotic mental condition of pupils with distorted 
pictures in every subject, is well illustrated in this little 
book. We would suggest, however, that practically 
every teacher could duplicate such results in her own 
observation and experience ; and so we would enjoin 
teachers to be careful in all their work to secure that in- 
dispensable result of accurate thinking, — clear, definite 
picturing. 



CHAPTER in 

THE MOST PREVALENT MISTAKE 

Telling vs. Teaching. — One of the most prevalent 
mistakes which teachers make is that of telling too 
much. Most teachers fall into the inveterate habit of 
handing information over to a pupil upon the least provo- 
cation. They do not give him a chance to work a sub- 
ject out for himself and to express himself on it in his 
own way. Many teachers seem to think that telling 
is teaching, when, in fact, beyond a certain point there 
is a distinct versus between them. The habit of telling 
is due to the fact that it is easier for a teacher to recite, 
herself, than to witness a pupil in the throes of a recita- 
tion ; consequently, the teacher comes to his rescue and 
hands over the information to him. True teaching 
implies active cooperation on the part of the pupil. Real 
education is from within, outward, rather than from with- 
out, inward. The tendency to tell is due to the sympa- 
thetic nature of the teacher. This is a good character- 
istic but, like many other good things, it becomes a fault 
beyond a certain point. When a pupil is wrestling with 
a subject, attempting to express himself in regard to it, 
he should be allowed a free rein ; he should be given free- 
dom to express himself completely in regard to the 
matter. While the pupil is on his feet reciting as best 
he can, help or adverse criticism only spoils the recitation, 

24 



The Most Prevalent Mistake 25 

the free self-expression of the pupil; it also mars the 
mutual attitude of the teacher and the pupil. Here is 
a place where the teacher should be " cruel only to be 
kind." A pupil should be allowed to work out his own 
salvation, standing on his own feet, and should be per- 
mitted to come thru victoriously or to go down to de- 
feat ignominiously ; in the latter situation he should 
be allowed to retrieve his fortunes by his own efforts or 
at least by his active cooperation. The teacher too 
should remain expressionless so as not to give indications 
to the pupils as to whether they are going in the right or 
wrong direction. Children are good mind readers, from 
the cues and clues given by the facial expression of the 
teacher. A brightening of the face and a smile or an 
unconscious nod indicates to the pupil that he is on the 
right road ; while a frown or a shadow on the teacher's 
countenance warns the pupil that he is going in the 
wrong direction. 

Activity vs. Passivity. — In this relation between 
teacher and pupil there will spring up and develop on 
the part of the latter either the habit of self-activity and 
self-reliance or the habit of passivity and of relying upon 
the teacher. Self-activity on the part of the pupil is 
absolutely necessary to his education in any true sense. 
All persons grow in strength by overcoming obstacles, 
and this growth in the schoolroom comes only by activity 
and cooperation on the part of the pupils. It is not 
information from the point of view of quantity that is 
educative, but attitude, activity of all kinds and initia- 
tive. There is probably no better educational habit 
than that of relying on one's own efforts and working 



26 Fundamentals in Method 

things out for one's self. But the habit on the part of 
the teacher, of furnishing information to the pupil upon 
the slightest hesitation on his part induces merely the 
habit of passivity, of waiting until everything is done 
for him or until some one comes to his rescue. When this 
habit becomes established children deliberately start a 
sentence and then hesitate, watching and waiting for 
the teacher to come to their aid. This kind of proce- 
dure is thoroly vitiating. The product of such a school 
will be weak — followers rather than self-reliant leaders. 
When a subject or topic is given to a pupil for recitation 
he should rise, and be allowed to work out the solution 
or full explanation of it in his own way, even if his for- 
mulation of it be full of weaknesses and errors. When 
he has completed his discussion and has expressed him- 
self in full his mistakes may then be made a subject of 
friendly and truth-seeking comment and discussion on 
the part of all. This will conduce to mental activity and 
alertness; but when the information is supplied to the 
pupil merely for the asking, he and all his class will fall 
into the habit of merely waiting to be told. All teachers 
should be on their guard against the growth and spread 
of this vicious habit of telling; they should carefully 
ponder the question of " Telling vs. Teaching." The 
Socratic method is the proper mode of procedure in such 
situations. 

Illustrations. — (i) The habit of thus continually 
handing over the information desired by the pupil 
reminds one of the practice of the mother bird in going 
forth to secure food for her young. She hunts the worm 
and when she returns the young bird merely opens its 



The Most Prevalent Mistake 27 

mouth wide and the old bird drops in the food. The 
young bird is passive and receives merely for the asking. 
Very soon, however, the young bird is compelled to hunt 
and scratch for a living. When the attitude and habit of 
passively waiting to be helped is induced in children they 
become leaners rather than leaders. 

(2) Society at large may be divided into two classes : 
those who lead and those who follow, or lean. One of 
the great purposes of the school should be to make as 
many leaders as possible, and in order to do this habits 
of self-activity and of initiative should be inculcated from 
earliest childhood. In life outside the school, in homes 
everywhere, we see these two processes in contrast. 

(3) Parents frequently do everything for their chil- 
dren, who need only to ask in order to receive. When 
parents are accustomed to carry their children, figura- 
tively speaking, and this habit continues for years, the 
parents are likely to have weak backs and the children, 
weak legs. On the other hand, where the children are 
taught to do things for themselves, they are likely to 
come out strong, self-assertive, and active ; and they are 
also likely to become more altruistic, for they are forming 
habits of doing for others ; while in the other case they 
are likely to become egoistic and selfish, for they have 
always been accustomed to have things come their way. 
This is just as true in the schoolroom as it is in life. 
Habit is habit everywhere, and, as a result, we fre- 
quently see children who have been brought up in the best 
homes go to wreck and ruin merely because they have 
been made passive, inactive, receptive, and selfish. In 
the cities we often see little newsboys — street Arabs, 



28 Fundamentals in Method 

as we call them — who are exposed to every vice known 
to man, come out, in the end, strong, wholesome men. 
They have grown strong by activity, by work ; stumbling 
blocks have become for them stepping stones. It is true 
that many of them succumb and go under, but it is never- 
theless true that self-reliance, self-activity, initiative, 
and work give them strength. 

(4) The effect of too much help is shown in the instance 
of the man who had a pet squirrel and who, thinking 
he was doing the squirrel a kindness, was accustomed to 
crack the nuts for it. The consequence was that the 
squirrel's teeth — which were made for that work — grew 
so long that the squirrel could not eat at all. So it is 
often with pupils and teachers. The teacher frequently 
cracks all the educational nuts for the children and leaves 
them unable to do anything for themselves. 

(5) One of the best lessons that can be taught children 
is what might be called the lesson of untying knots. 
To untie a knot implies seeing the strands in all their 
relations : looking into it and thus understanding the 
why's and wherefore's. It is always easier to cut a knot 
than to untie one, but to untie a knot implies insight, 
thought, study, and work ; and so teachers should allow 
pupils the privilege and opportunity of untying the 
knots of the schoolroom after investigating them for 
themselves. 

Freedom and Self -activity. — Teachers are prone to 
form the habit of what might be called garrulousness. 
People, as they grow old, are inclined to become more 
and more talkative, and teachers, as they continue in 
their work, are subject to the same danger. Eternal 



The Most Prevalent Mistake 29 

vigilance in this respect is the price of exemption from this 
pedagogical vice. 

It is freedom and self-activity that underlie the Mon- 
tessori system of teaching. There is really nothing new 
in this method, except that Madam Montessori, who has 
a great, wholesome, winning and magnetic personality, 
expresses or puts these ideas into practice in her life and 
in her school to an extraordinary degree, and owing to 
her success has made them better known thruout the 
world. In her method and system the child is left free 
and is induced to be self-active both in mind and body. 

These same ideas of freedom, self-activity, and initia- 
tive are the foundation, also, of government and educa- 
tion as found in the George Junior Republic, at Freeville, 
New York. Here the boys and girls, some of them some- 
what refractory in their old surroundings, become equal 
citizens and share comparatively equal privileges and re- 
sponsibilities in the Republic. The consequence is that 
their freedom is largely of their own making. Self- 
activity is recognized as the central educational idea, and 
inducements are held out everywhere for initiative. The 
best results are obtained. Boys and girls who grew mis- 
chievous and wayward under the system of prohibitions 
and inhibitions practiced upon them prior to their admis- 
sion, here step forth and participate in an active and 
law-abiding manner in all the activities of the community, 
educational, social, religious, governmental, and so on. 
In the Republic, boys who had to be watched at home for 
wrong-doing, here become judges and officers of the law, 
dispensing justice without fear or favor, when they have 
the doing of it themselves. 



3<3 Fundamentals in Methods 

Quality vs. Quantity. — The atmosphere of every 
schoolroom should be one where there prevails between 
the teacher and the pupils mutual respect and admiration. 
It should be one in which the children become suggestible 
and receptive, and where the teacher needs only plant a 
suggestion to have it work itself out into action among 
the pupils. In an atmosphere of this kind interest is 
awakened and developed. Problems of every kind are 
thrown out at the right time and in the right manner 
by the teacher, and are then grappled by the school and 
solved. It would be better for a teacher to give one 
problem in arithmetic, which would arouse the class 
to discussion and enthusiastic debate, than to give 
twenty-five problems that would be solved merely for 
the answer, when half of the pupils would probably copy 
from the others for future delivery. A little, well and 
enthusiastically done by a pupil, is much more educative 
than any amount of quantitative work poorly done. 
It is not quantity that is valuable, but quality, attitude, 
atmosphere, spirit, enthusiasm — in a word, a hunger 
and thirst for genuine organized knowledge and experience. 
There is a vast amount of mere material poured upon chil- 
dren, which goes in one ear and out the other. We have 
such sublime faith in mere knowledge of subject-matters, 
no matter how secured, that children and schools are del- 
uged with telling, mere textbook work, and lecturing. 
Much of this material is merely held in mind, thru mem- 
ory, for the occasion of an examination or recitation and is 
then unloaded once for all and forever. It means nothing 
in real education, for all education must be thru activity. 
Nothing is education that is not our own and our self. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE RECITATION PERIOD 

Minds Meet and Level Up. — In the American school 
system what is known as the " recitation period " prop- 
erly occupies an important place. This period is the 
occasion, par excellence, for the exercise of methods, and 
hence a discussion of its aims and processes is pertinent. 
Upon its skillful use as a means depends much of the suc- 
cess of the teacher. The recitation period is the great 
opportunity for minds to meet — for the teacher and her 
pupils to come together to compare notes and exchange 
thought. The play of one personality upon another is 
probably the greatest factor in the education of a human 
being. Thought, feeling, and conduct, like water, seek 
a level, but in the recitation it should be a leveling up 
and not down. 

A Testing Time. — While the recitation period is the 
occasion when teacher and pupils come together for the 
play of mind upon mind and for the exchange of thought, 
there is a certain specific purpose, foremost in the minds 
of all, to be attained : there is a definite portion of sub- 
ject-matter which involves a problem or problems to 
be solved. This is properly the aim uppermost in mind 
to be accomplished during this period. For example, 
if certain problems are assigned in arithmetic it is the 
correct solution of these problems and a clear expression 

31 



32 Fundamentals in Methods 

of them which is the central aim. If the demonstration 
of a theorem or of theorems in geometry is to be the 
lesson, this aim of the recitation period is to make the 
demonstration and explanation clear in the minds of the 
pupils. Consequently, every recitation period is a time 
of testing : a period in which a kind of examination is 
held. The pupil must give an account of himself and his 
time. He must show that he has accomplished the 
work designated at the previous preparation period. 
The word problem comes from the Greek word, pro- 
ballein, which means to cast, or throw. Consequently, 
every assigned lesson has a problem or problems in it : 
something thrown at the pupil which is either to be 
caught by him or fumbled, as a baseball player might 
catch or miss a ball. The recitation period is the time for 
testing whether or not the pupil has caught the problems 
which have been cast at him ; consequently, this period, 
which is also a kind of impending examination, is a power- 
ful motive to secure efficient study on the part of the 
pupil. He wishes to make good in the eyes of his 
teacher and of his fellow pupils. 

Wrestling with the Problem. — (i) Since every recita- 
tion period has its aim, or object, to be accomplished — ■ 
its problem or problems to be solved — the first thing 
to be attended to is the securing of the facts, facts directly 
relevant to the problem and the situation. (2) Then 
there should occur the consideration and comparison 
of the facts. Many of the facts brought up for considera- 
tion may be challenged. They should also be examined 
as to their relative values. Some are of the first magni- 
tude and some are of the tenth. The relative value of 



The Recitation Period 33 

facts is all-important in coming to a conclusion of any 
kind. (3) When relevant facts are organized they then 
become a basis or ground for an inference, or conclusion. 

This conclusion validly drawn from facts properly 
valued and duly organized is the solution of the problem 
in hand. Much has been said in recent years of the vari- 
ous so-called formal steps in the recitation; but when 
reduced to the simplest terms, every problem between 
teacher and pupil implies simply these three factors or 
elements: (1) The relevant facts, (2) their relative 
value, (3) the conclusion validly drawn from them. 

We are often tempted in pedagogical writings to 
analyze this fundamental problem of the recitation 
period into numerous divisions and subdivisions, when, 
in reality, the process and the method to be employed 
are quite simple. The method of the recitation room is 
similar to that in every problem of life. The solution 
of every such problem depends upon a proper in- 
ference from well-established and well-organized facts 
and principles. If the situation is made too consciously 
complex and formal, it is likely to injure efficiency in 
procedure. Many things are made difficult by being 
made consciously complex. Much of the pedagogical 
literature of the day errs in this respect. Simplicity in 
it all is what is needed most. Teachers frequently think 
that they are not proceeding correctly if they have not 
in mind a complicated and formal scheme, with all its 
logical subdivisions. But the process of teaching is, in 
its essence, like every other great work, simple and di- 
rect ; it is not motived by consciously logical and complex 
outlines. All complicated analyses of teaching processes 



34 Fundamentals in Methods 

are mental constructs or psychological projections im- 
posed upon the situation by afterthought and reflection. 
They are consequent rather than precedent. 

A Guide to the Teacher. — The recitation period is 
also a guide to the teacher ; for here she finds out whether 
the pupils have solved their problems, have accomplished 
the aim or not. The extent to which they have done 
this serves as a guide to her, as to the number of problems 
or the amount of subject-matter which she should as- 
sign for the next lesson. By means of the success or fail- 
ure of the average pupil the teacher is enabled to measure 
and estimate herself and her assignments. She is thus 
given standards for her problems and her rate of progress. 

The Review — " Apperception Mass." — But the pur- 
pose of testing or examining the pupils on the subject-mat- 
ter of the recitation is not the only aim of the recitation 
period. Many teachers, it is true, regard this as the sole 
end and aim; and hence the whole recitation period is 
devoted to a cross fire of questioning and answering : 
a veritable examination period. To such an extent is 
this the practice that the pupils everywhere, and indeed 
teachers also, look upon the recitation period as a mere 
examination time. There are, however, other objects 
to be attained and other things to be attended to during 
this period. One of these is what might be called a re- 
view, or the approach to the problems assigned for the 
day. Every portion of subject-matter may be connected, 
naturally, with what has gone before. And before be- 
ginning a discussion of the problems of the day the class 
should be made to give the approach by having recalled 
to the minds of all the important preceding discussions 



The Recitation Period 



35 



and conclusions. It is a good plan in teaching to call 
back instruction to see what condition it may be in. 
Previous knowledge should be revived and the pupils 
refreshed upon it, so that present problems may be at- 
tacked from the best point of view. The phrase, " ap- 
perception mass/' has been worked hard in recent years 
— frequently overworked ; but it is an excellent and 
practicable conception. It merely means that there 
should be a bundle of relevant knowledge by means of 
which present problems may be best attacked and best 
appropriated mentally. If such a bundle of knowledge 
does not exist, the new subject-matter can not be knit 
or interwoven with past experience as it should be. If 
such an apperception mass does not exist, the new can not 
be attached permanently to the mind. It is this which 
makes the difference between not being able to forget 
and not being able to remember. There are some things 
which we are utterly unable to forget. They have sent 
their roots down into our minds and consciousness to 
such an extent that they can not be torn from us ; they 
are a part of our very selves, ramifying thru all our 
mental being, and it is as impossible to tear them from 
us as it would be to have one's heart torn out and still 
live. 

There are, on the other hand, pieces of knowledge, so 
called, so superficial that they are merely " stuck on " ; 
they wash off or weather off in the course of a short time. 
They are like apples hanging on a Christmas tree : the 
sap and life do not pass from the tree to them ; they 
are not vitalized ; they are not growing or alive. This 
knowledge, consequently, is soon forgotten ; its roots do 



36 Fundamentals in Methods 

not permeate our being. Real knowledge, that which 
we have made our own and which has become a part of 
our very selves, is like a live apple growing on the tree : 
the life and sap pass to and from it. Consequently, 
in order that knowledge or subject-matter of any kind 
may accomplish its purpose, it should send its roots 
into our past experiences ; it should, in other words, 
have an apperception mass to vivify it. In the recita- 
tion period the review should irrigate and cultivate our 
recently acquired knowledge and experience. 

Introduction to the Next Lesson. — Another purpose 
of the recitation period which should not be forgotten is 
the preparation of the pupils' minds for the lesson which 
they are to attack for the succeeding day. The teacher 
should, so to speak, take the pupils by the hand and 
show them the possibilities in the problems of the next 
lesson. They should be taken to a high place and shown 
not the kingdoms of the earth but the promised land. 
There need be no fear that there will not be sufficient 
work for the pupils to do if they are given this vision. 
They are only shown which way to go ; before the next 
recitation period comes they will have to travel the road 
themselves. Such a preparation time of only a few min- 
utes is for the purpose of showing the pitfalls and side 
paths along the road to be traveled. What is most 
important and what is relatively unimportant should 
be pointed out, and the class should be given a clear, 
definite idea as to what is expected of them. It is a great 
blunder on the part of the teacher to assign a lesson in 
such a manner that the pupils will not know exactly the 
specific problems of the lesson. They should also be 



The Recitation Period 37 

given some directions that will be of help to them in the 
solution of these problems. There will still be ample 
work left for the pupils to do. 

Expression. — Another very important object in every 
recitation period is an unhindered self-expression on the 
part of the pupil ; the opportunity and the privilege of 
expressing himself in full upon some or all of the prob- 
lems of the day should be his. Self-expression and com- 
plete expression on the part of the pupil are all-important. 
Too many teachers forget this ; they forget that the gen- 
eral function of the teacher is to act as chairman and not 
as chief speaker of the occasion in the recitation period. 

The writer once visited a recitation in United States 
history in which the pupils were asked to recite upon an 
assigned topic. A pupil would begin a sentence and be- 
fore he had half finished it the teacher would interrupt 
and either adversely criticize him or finish it in her own 
way. She stood with a club on the side line, so to speak, 
and beat him back to the straight and narrow path upon 
the slightest deviation from her own standard of accu- 
racy. The consequence was that the poor child became 
afraid to say anything and, of course, his recitation was a 
pitiable exhibition of faltering and dependence. Such a 
recitation defeats the aim of self-expression on the part 
of the pupil. It should be the right and privilege of 
every pupil to express himself in full and in his own way 
upon a topic when it is assigned to him. When he has 
finished, some other pupil may be asked to give his ver- 
sion in like manner. If there be a divergence of opinion 
or of conclusion, this would then become the proper 
subject of discussion. 



38 Fundamentals in Methods 

In another room of the same building the writer heard 
another recitation — also in history. Here the subject 
was given to the pupil ; and, rising, he discussed it from 
beginning to end without interruption on the part of the 
teacher and made one of the finest little speeches that 
it has ever been the writer's privilege to hear. He spoke 
about seven minutes and marshaled all his facts and his 
conclusions with wonderful skill. He showed that he 
had gathered the facts, had valued and organized them, 
and had drawn a conclusion which could not be refuted. 
He sat down, feeling that he had expressed himself in 
full ; that he had caught the problem ; that he had de- 
livered the message. This was as it should be. In com- 
paring the two occasions one could not help thinking 
of Hamlet's words : " Look upon that picture, and then 
upon this." 

The Teacher's Part. — There is, of course, an oppor- 
tunity in the recitation period for the teacher to " have 
his say." One of the purposes of this period is instruc- 
tion, corrections, and enrichment by the teacher. If he 
had no such opportunity, many false impressions would 
be left on the minds of the pupils. Children often get 
wrong mental pictures, and here is the time and the 
occasion for the teacher to correct them. It is the proper 
time and place, also, for the teacher to enlarge upon the 
thought and discussion of the pupils ; but not in such a 
way as to rob the pupil of a sense of achievement and 
victory. If the teacher is competent, she can illus- 
trate by examples. To illustrate means to make lus- 
trous. She can illuminate the subject, which means to 
make it luminous. This period is a time for clinching 



The Recitation Period 39 

the nails which have been driven, for if the nails be driven 
and not clinched they pull out easily ; and so, the teacher, 
whether the nails be driven by herself or by the pupils 
in the class, will see to it that they are all clinched before 
the pupils are sent on their way. 

Necessary Formality. — Another aim of the recita- 
tion period is to give definiteness and formality to the 
mental processes. Pupils and students have difficulty 
in studying subjects by themselves on account of a lack 
of definite formality. There are no specific times and 
places, where stakes are set down, so to speak, to mark 
the progress and the distance traveled. There is no one 
to say whether or not the subject is correctly understood ; 
and so these pupils or students are in the mental condition 
of not knowing whether they know or not. This is 
always somewhat bewildering. The mind hearkens 
back to the past and is doubtful of its own accomplish- 
ments; a definite period and formality are necessary 
to give pupils the suggestion and the feeling that 
thus far all is well. They then turn their attention 
whole and entire to the new problems and are thereby 
better enabled to concentrate upon them. Such a period, 
in which pupils are given to understand definitely and 
formally whether or not they have a thoro grasp of 
the lesson, is necessary to a sense of completeness and is 
essential to mental eagerness, determination, progress, 
and all the steadying, marching qualities, generally. 

Arousing Interest. — Lastly, the recitation period is 
all important from the point of view of the awakening 
of interest. In every subject that the child studies 
there is what may be called the " liking point. " Until 



40 Fundamentals in Methods 

he has reached this point he probably dislikes the subject 
and finds it uphill work. It may be that his appercep- 
tion mass has not been psychologically developed. 
But as soon as the liking point is reached the subject be- 
comes interesting and fruitful. The great aim of the 
teacher, and so one of the aims of the recitation period, is 
to watch and to see to it that children and their subjects 
do not become alienated. If the child dislikes his sub- 
ject, — that is, if he has not reached or if he has fallen 
away from the liking point, — something has gone wrong 
somewhere. It may be with a former teacher ; it may 
be due to a lack of encouragement in the home ; it may 
be due to adverse suggestions by companions ; it may be 
due to a lack of effort on his own part ; it may be due to 
attractions and distractions round about him in society ; 
or something may have gone wrong with the present 
teacher. There' is no subject of human thought and 
study which may not be relished keenly by every human 
mind, if begun at the right time, connected up properly 
with past experiences, given in proper quantities and in 
the right manner. The subject which is disliked and 
which must be taken as a nauseating medicine does little, 
if any, good to the pupil ; in fact, it may do much evil. 
And hence the recitation period is the time when the 
teacher has the opportunity to see to it that the pupil 
becomes interested in the subject which he is studying. 
All of these subjects are only portions of human experi- 
ences, and the problem of the school is to hand over to the 
individual pupil these bundles of racial experience, in the 
shortest time and in the most interesting and most effi- 
cient manner possible. 



The Recitation Period 41 

Summary. — To summarize : The recitation period is 
the time when mind comes in contact with mind and is 
impressed by it ; when the pupil is tested on the prob- 
lems which he has been studying; the time when the 
teacher is guided as to the rate at which she and her class 
should travel ; a time for renewing the past so as to make 
the easiest and most pleasant approach to present prob- 
lems ; a time when the teacher should prepare her class 
for the problems of the succeeding day; an excellent 
opportunity for the pupils to express themselves in full — 
a privilege which should not be denied to them ; a good 
opportunity for the teacher to illustrate, to illuminate, 
and to clinch; a time when definiteness and formality 
bring to the class, individually and collectively, the state 
of mind which gives peace and satisfaction, and courage 
to concentrate attention upon the future, rather than to 
leave it harassed and distracted by backward looks 
toward doubtful knowledge; and, finally, it is a time 
when interest and enthusiasm may be cultivated ; when 
all may be brought to the liking point of the subject as 
soon as possible, and when interest, which is the edge of 
mental appetite, may be kept continually whetted and 
keen. 



CHAPTER V 

READING: FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 

Most Important Subject. — Reading is, without doubt, 
the most important subject in the school curriculum. 
It is the medium thru which every other subject is 
taught and studied. It is because children can not 
read that they do not get their lessons in the various 
other subjects. In fact, Reading is so important and 
comprehensive that a person might become educated 
by this means, alone, for it is the open sesame to all 
fields of thought. 

As a Medium. — Reading, as we said, is the medium 
thru which other subjects are studied. A medium, 
as the word indicates, is something in the middle, or 
between. The language on the page is the medium be- 
tween the mind of the reader and that of the writer. 
The words, phrases, and sentences are go-betweens, and, 
as it were, transfer ideas and thoughts from one mind 
to another. 

Now, the medium may be in different conditions. 
If a speaker should take an object from his pocket and 
hold it behind a book or slate, the audience could not 
recognize the object, for the medium is opaque. The 
language of the printed page frequently approaches this 
condition. To the child who could " read " thru 
the first reader as well as any of the other children but 

42 



Reading: Fundamental Principles 43 

who did not understand a thing that was said, the medium 
was opaque. 

If the language remains opaque, the child does not get 
any of the thought. It would be possible for a person 
who had learned the pronunciation of words, to read, 
apparently, from a page of Latin, Greek, or other foreign 
language without getting any of the thought. 

If a person should take from his pocket some object 
and hold it behind a piece of oiled paper, those in front 
might be able to get a dim, hazy outline of it. In this 
case the medium would be described as translucent. 
Frequently in the teaching of reading the medium is 
left translucent by the teacher : the children see thru 
a glass darkly. If the medium remain translucent, the 
child is able to gather, or to glean, probably 25 per cent 
of the thought. But such a condition in the teaching of 
reading would indicate poor methods and poor pedagogy 
generally. The ideas and thoughts are indefinite and 
vague. The work of the teacher, of course, is to change 
the medium from the condition of being opaque or trans- 
lucent to that in which the thought is clearly discerned. 

A still better condition, and one to be aimed at, is that 
in which the medium, like pure glass, is transparent — 
where the ideas may be clearly seen behind the words 
and the thought behind the language. In this condition 
the pupil is enabled to glean from 75 per cent to 100 per 
cent of the meaning. The medium may be still visible, 
for we scarcely ever reach the ideal of having the medium 
so transparent that it will not be noticed at all. 

As a Mirror. — To use another figure of speech, lan- 
guage is a mirror, polished to a greater or a less extent. 



44 Fundamentals in Methods 

If the mirror be such that it will reflect the thought of 
the writer or speaker with definiteness and accuracy, all 
is well. But too often the mirror — that is, the language 
— does not reflect the thought without great diffusion 
and distortion. 

As a Master Key. — The aim in all teaching is to en- 
able the pupil to make use of the language as a tool or 
instrument. Reading is the master key by means of 
which the pupil is enabled to open the doors into all 
fields of thought. We all pity those who can not read. 
They are the illiterate and are self-excluded from the 
society of those who possess the pass key of reading. 

An Easy but Neglected Art. — Oral reading has be- 
come a somewhat neglected art. There is scarcely any 
accomplishment that will bring more happiness to one's 
self and more pleasure to others than the ability to read 
well ; and yet, this ability is very rare, indeed. Parents 
spend large sums of money in educating their children in 
music, and yet, without disparaging this practice, a good 
reader will have ten opportunities to entertain both him- 
self and others by good reading, to one opportunity to 
do so in the field of music, either vocal or instrumental. 
Reading, too, is a comparatively simple and easy art. 
The best reading scarcely extends over a range of three 
or four notes, while in music the range extends over three 
octaves. Consequently, every person, whether he can 
become a good singer or not, might become a good oral 
reader. 

Silent and Oral. — Reading is either silent or oral. 
Silent reading is merely gathering, or gleaning, the 
thought from the printed or written page. A good 



Reading: Fundamental Principles 45 

reader is a good gleaner, one who gathers thought 
accurately and fully. Oral reading is merely gathering 
the thought and expressing it nicely. Silent reading is 
merely allowing a panorama of pictures to pass before the 
mind as we proceed from line to line upon the printed 
page. If the selection is a beautiful poem or gem of 
literature of any kind, the panorama is one of beautiful 
pictures. If the selection is commonplace or even bad, 
it is nevertheless a panorama of pictures. Oral reading 
is causing such a panorama to pass before the mind of 
the hearer. If there are words or phrases, or historic, 
scientific, or literary allusions in the selection which the 
reader or hearer does not understand, no corresponding 
pictures arise and the total scene is, to that extent, 
marred. There are blotches or daubs upon the moving 
panorama. 

Falling Down. — It is a very common occurrence in 
school for children to show by their reading that they 
are not getting the pictures at all. They stumble, fall, 
and flounder around to such an extent that the reading 
is utterly spoiled, both for themselves and for others. 
The experience is painful to readers and hearers alike. 
It is a great pleasure to listen to a good reader, but ex- 
tremely uncomfortable to listen to one who is neither 
getting nor giving the pictures or the thought; what 
might be an artistic performance and an artistic result 
is utterly spoiled. The writer had the experience once 
of visiting a school in which a pupil had read in a falter- 
ing, stumbling manner thru two or three paragraphs of 
a selection. He showed | that he was not getting the 
thought at all ; it was a pitiable performance. When he 



46 Fundamentals in Methods 

had finished, the teacher was on the point of assigning 
an advance lesson without making any corrections what- 
ever; without supplementing the child's knowledge, or 
burnishing up his pictures. The writer asked the boy 
how he came to school that morning ; he replied that he 
walked. The writer then asked him how many times he 
fell down in coming to school, whereupon he looked up 
rather curtly and resented the question somewhat, 
replying that he did not fall down at all. The writer 
then asked him if he could not read without falling down. 
His head dropped and both he and his teacher, we think, 
took the hint. Good reading should be without any 
hesitation, stumbling, or falling down. Of course this 
implies considerable previous study, investigation, and 
practice, but nothing less than fairly good reading should 
be accepted by the teacher as final. But it will have to 
be induced and developed by encouragement and imita- 
tion rather than forced by threats or fear. 

Clear Understanding. — The first thing necessary 
before a pupil is asked to express himself in reading is 
that he get a clear understanding of the selection. There 
are certain words in every selection which are pivotal 
in their nature ; much of the meaning of the whole hinges 
upon them. These should be carefully looked up by the 
pupils, for if they are not known, they constitute blotches 
upon the picture. The teacher should inquire in regard 
to the literary, scientific, and historical allusions em- 
bodied in the lesson and if necessary explain them. A 
clear understanding — that is, the ability to make defi- 
nite mental pictures — is absolutely necessary. We should 
not advise a detailed analysis of any reading lesson from 



Reading: Fundamental Principles 47 

a grammatical point of view. In some of the old-time 
teaching, beautiful selections were frequently analyzed 
grammatically and the words parsed until the whole 
became very distasteful to the pupils. This detailed 
analysis of matters irrelevant to the reading should be 
avoided, but at the same time there should be sufficient 
questioning on the part of the teacher and sufficient 
study and investigation on the part of the pupil to bring 
out the picture as a whole and its principal details, with 
great clearness. 

Understanding, Liking, and Expression. — If the 
selection be a good one, worthy of being introduced to 
the class, the children will all like it. This is the second 
step — the liking of the piece. The first step, as we said, 
was the understanding of it. If the selection is under- 
stood and is worthy, it will always be liked. This is es- 
sential to moral and emotional cultivation and is neces- 
sary to the creation of a taste for literature. The fact 
that many children do not like their courses in English 
and do not become lovers and readers of good literature 
is due to a lack of efficient and artistic teaching of read- 
ing. Reading and literature are administered to too 
great an extent all thru the schools as a medicine, in- 
stead of being craved as a delicious morsel by the pupils. 
Here is a problem for the teacher. 

The next step is the simple but artistic expression of 
the thought. If the selection be understood and liked, 
there will be a strong tendency to express it nicely. 
These, then, — understanding, liking, and expression, — 
constitute the essence of reading. When and however 
these are secured there is good teaching of reading. 



48 Fundamentals in Methods 

The Reading. — As children are great imitators and as 
they take on habits very readily, it is always well not to 
have them express a selection until they first understand 
it and like it. It would, then, be well for the teacher to 
read the selection first ; then have a pupil read it. This 
could be followed by some sympathetic and favorable 
comments. Then a second pupil should be asked to read 
it in his way — to give his version of it. This, again, 
might be followed by some comparisons as to why one 
pupil read it one way and another, another way. The 
teacher would do well then to read it again. It should 
all be managed so as to induce a desire in the others to 
read it. In it all aggressive effort on the part of the 
pupils should predominate over imitation. And so the 
process might go on, the teacher reading it occasionally, 
alternating with the pupils. This would allow for legiti- 
mate imitation and also for freedom of expression on the 
part of every pupil. It should be the privilege of every 
pupil in the class to read the whole selection from begin- 
ning to end ; and not only that, but to have an opportu- 
nity of reading the selection many times as the days, weeks, 
and months go by. In the teaching of reading the writer 
believes in using comparatively short selections: short 
gems of poetry and prose, many of which could well be 
memorized by the pupils and some of which should be 
memorized. 

Choosing Selections. — In teaching reading in the 
upper grades it would be well, instead of reading the 
selections in the reader, consecutively from the first 
to the last, to have the class vote upon the selection to be 
studied, discussed, and read at the next time. This 



Reading: Fundamental Principles 49 

makes the class a party to the choice and gives them a 
personal interest in their work. The writer once taught 
reading in an eighth grade in this way, and during that 
year he and the class made the selections from any sources 
available. Some of these were taken from the regular 
text and others from outside sources. During the whole 
year thirty-nine beautiful gems of poetry and prose were 
studied and read. The plan was first to understand them, 
then to like them, and then to have them expressed or 
read nicely. Great interest and enthusiasm character- 
ized the choosing and the work as it proceeded. Many 
selections were offered which could not, of course, be 
taken up in class for want of time. It was noticed after- 
wards, whenever the school gave an entertainment, and 
any of these pupils took part in the program, that they 
invariably chose one of the selections studied and read 
during the year. This was only natural. Why should 
not one of those beautiful pieces be rendered again and 
again, as is the case with many of the old, familiar 
songs ? 

Pictures on Memory's Wall. — Many of the selections 
read in school should be memorized. These literary 
gems hang upon memory's wall and make a " house 
beautiful " for us in all our later years. Most minds are 
quite poverty-stricken in regard to memory pictures of 
this kind ; some people know scarcely half a dozen short 
selections. Others have their memory walls decorated 
with ten, fifty, a hundred or more beautiful pictures; 
they live in veritable art gallery. In our affection these 
grow with our growth and strengthen with our strength ; 
they become in later years our comfort, support, and 



50 Fundamentals in Methods 

happiness. William T. Harris, formerly U. S. Commis- 
sioner of Education, once said that he looked back to 
the memory gems which he had learned in his childhood 
and youth as one of the greatest factors in his education. 
Every beautiful poem or selection in prose expresses an 
ideal toward which we grow ; and every person grows like 
unto his ideals — we grow like unto what we love. And 
so there is no greater force in the life of a pupil than the 
memory gems which he has made his own, his very self, 
and which he has learned under the methods of his good 
teachers of reading. 



CHAPTER VI 

READING: A CRITICISM OF METHODS 

A Common Method. — An old but common method of 
teaching reading and, in fact, the method still in vogue 
in many places, is to call the class up in a martinet 
manner and have them stand in a line, facing the school 
and toeing a crack or a chalk mark on the floor. Posi- 
tions in the class varied from what was called the " head " 
to the " foot." Without much or any questioning or 
discussion, the pupil at the head was asked to read the 
first paragraph. He generally rendered it in a con- 
ventional, perfunctory, monotonous manner, showing 
that he had no clear intellectual grasp of the situation. 
Consequently, his expression of it was in a kind of sing- 
song manner, suggesting the criticism which Cicero is 
reported to have made upon a young reader : "If you 
sing, you sing poorly; and if you read, why do you 
sing?" 

" Read the First Paragraph." — In criticism of a 
part of this plan we should say that a pupil should 
never to be told to read simply one paragraph. If so, 
he winds himself up, so to speak, and knows when and 
where he is to stop ; the consequence is that he assumes 
a monotone, " running down," as it were, and hurrying 
on to the end. Of course he is slightly excited and is 
impelled to hasten thru it as rapidly as possible, for the 

si 



52 Fundamentals in Methods 

end is dominantly and consciously in mind. A pupil 
should never be told how much he is to read, so that 
the conclusion may not dominate him and his reading. 
If the selection is short, he should read it all, and if the 
selection is of some length, he should understand that 
he is to read until he is told to stop. If it be the prac- 
tice to have each pupil read one paragraph, there is 
usually little attention paid by some of the other 
members of the class, for they are trying to figure out 
which paragraph is going to fall to them. It should 
be an opportunity, and the privilege of every person in 
the reading class, sometime and indeed frequently, to 
express himself at length and in full upon each selec- 
tion studied. 

Edwin Booth. — There is an anecdote told of Edwin 
Booth, the great actor, to the effect that once upon a 
time he was invited to be present at the palatial residence 
of an old gentleman in the city of Baltimore, who had 
always been opposed to the theater. This gentleman, 
however, had a great curiosity to see, meet, and hear 
Mr. Booth. The evening of Booth's entertainment in 
the old gentleman's home passed pleasantly and at the 
opportune time some one asked Mr. Booth if he would 
favor the company with a reading. Mr. Booth replied 
that he should be very glad to do so. At the proper 
time it was announced unexpectedly that Mr. Booth had 
kindly consented to give a reading. All eyes, of course, 
were upon him, and especially the eyes of the old gentle- 
man who was host on the occasion. When Mr. Booth 
was introduced he arose quietly and clasping his hands 
and raising his eyes slightly upward, began reciting the 



Reading: A Criticism of Methods 53 

Lord's Prayer. Before he had finished it the old gentle- 
man, who was intent upon the great actor, burst into 
tears and sobbed. On regaining composure he said : 
" I have heard that all my life, but I never heard it that 
way before." Mr. Booth merely remarked : " That is 
nothing; I have been practicing that for twenty years 
and I haven't it perfect yet." 

Compare this with the practice of having a pupil 
read only one paragraph of a selection and that only 
once ! How is it possible to take on any enthusiasm or 
acquire any facility of expression by reading only a 
portion of a selection once? It is contrary to all the 
laws of the mind and heart, and teachers should remem- 
ber the incident of Mr. Booth in their teaching of reading. 

What Repetition Will Do. — Repetition of a selection 
of any kind will lead to one of two results : It will either 
cause degeneration into mere conventional mummery, 
or it will flower out into the fullness of thought, feeling, 
and expression. If repetition of any kind is not filled 
full of thought and feeling, it will merely degenerate into 
monotonous verbiage, but if every repetition is filled 
full of thought and feeling, it will conduce to the develop- 
ment of both. 

An incident is told of a great actor who had always 
been dissatisfied with certain lines in Hamlet. He had 
tried them over and over, and indeed repeated them 
in a thousand different ways but still felt that there was 
something lacking in his expression. While crossing 
the Atlantic on one occasion he did little else than prac- 
tice in order to improve these lines. He tried them 
with every possible variation; and the consequence 



54 Fundamentals in Methods 

was that when he appeared before the footlights in 
New York City and came to these lines he sent a veri- 
table thrill thru that vast audience: he had acquired 
power thru a discriminating repetition in his efforts 
toward an ideal. 

No Enrichment. — In the old method of conducting 
a recitation, after a pupil had read one paragraph there 
was little or no questioning on the part of the teacher 
in regard to meanings and mental pictures. References 
and allusions were passed by unnoticed; it was mis- 
takenly assumed that the pupils had got them. The 
pictures in the whole panorama were not burnished up 
and made clear and definite. The reading exercise was 
a perfunctory performance to be got over with as soon 
as possible. It is no wonder that a subject taught in 
this way was not liked, and it is still less wonder that 
pupils did not get their other lessons — they simply 
could not read them. 

Fruitless Criticisms. — (i) Sometimes a few inane 
criticisms were passed upon the reading of one pupil 
by other members of the class. One would say, " He 
called ' the ' ' and ' " ; another would say, " He called 
' to ' 'of.'" Such criticisms, of course, did no good. 
If he called " the " " and," or " to " " of," it was merely 
a slip of the eye or of the tongue or an indication that 
his mind was not on the meaning or on the picture, but 
merely on the words. To make such a correction does 
the person who made the mistake no good, for he would 
be just as likely to make the same slip again. Of course, 
if a word were mispronounced it would be proper and 
necessary to call his attention to it. 



Reading: A Criticism of Methods 55 

(2) Another correction frequently made was, " He 
repeated." It was quite customary, in fact, to think 
that corrections of some kind must be made. There 
was a time set aside for corrections, and hence some 
fault had to be found in order to accomplish the apparent 
end. It is difficult, however, to see why a person should 
not repeat if he realizes that he has made a mistake 
and has not delivered the proper message or has im- 
properly delivered it. In fact, a pupil should be allowed, 
as a matter of right, to go back to the first and to re-read 
in order to do himself justice. If a pupil realizes at the 
close that he has not acquitted himself as well as he should 
and could, he should be allowed to express himself over 
again. He will then close with a feeling of satisfaction 
instead of a feeling of dissatisfaction and incomplete- 
ness. Every pupil is under a momentary confusion for a 
short time and is, consequently, unable frequently to do 
justice either to himself or to the selection. If he realizes 
this, a complete repetition is to be commended rather 
than criticized. 

(3) Another stale and usually meaningless criticism 
was (and often is) that a pupil " read too fast." This, 
of course, might be valid in certain situations: Some 
selections, by their very nature, require a slow and 
measured reading ; other portions or selections might be 
expressed with considerable speed. If one were read- 
ing, for example, Byron's "Apostrophe to the Ocean," 
where he says, " Roll on, thou deep and dark blue 
ocean, roll ! " and should say the words rapidly and 
flippantly, it would fail of the effect intended in the whole 
magnificent passage. 



56 Fundamentals in Methods 

(4) Frequently pupils were hampered by criticisms 
and injunctions in regard to the manner of standing and 
of holding the book. They were made to feel awkward 
and uncomfortable. It would be well, of course, to 
induce the proper manner of holding the book and a 
dignified manner of standing while reading; but good 
posture should be secured by suggestion and example 
and by much tolerance rather than by severity and 
criticism. Too much should not be made of it; it is 
not a fact of the first magnitude, but rather one of the 
second or lower. The teacher who is an artist and who 
understands the power of suggestion will bring about 
good results in this respect in a short time. The ideal 
of art is to conceal art, and the artist teacher will secure 
results in regard to position and like points before the 
pupils are aware of it. 

(5) Instead of calling the whole class out and having 
them stand in a row it would be better to have the class 
seated either where they usually sit or toward the front 
of the room. When a pupil is called upon to read he 
should then step forward and face his class and the school 
and read until told to discontinue — reading, frequently, 
the whole piece. This is the situation in actual life, 
when a person is reading before audiences, and should be 
the practice and the habit inculcated in school. The 
pupil will then feel that he is accomplishing something, 
that he has delivered his message, that he has expressed 
himself fully, and that he has been reading to an au- 
dience of listeners. When the pupil has finished reading 
there should be some time for questions, for comparison 
and discussion, and for the consideration of certain 



Reading: A Criticism of Methods 57 

pivotal words, phrases, or allusions. This would be the 
proper time for a discussion of pronunciation, emphasis, 
and elocutionary expression, when such a discussion is 
suggested by some incident or thought opportune by the 
teacher. 

Elocution. — Real elocution should not mean any 
formal, conventional, or " high-toned " mode of ren- 
dition. The best elocution consists of simple and beau- 
tiful expression accompanied by evident understanding 
and the proper emotional state. It does not consist of 
stage attitudes, histrionic facial contortions, or violent 
gestures. The very best reading and hence the best elo- 
cution is the natural and accurate expression, which is 
the result of clear picturing, accompanied by a realizing 
sense of the sentiment which normally accompanies it. 

Variations. — When one pupil has given his version 
of the selection or of a reasonable portion of it, and 
when proper discussion has been given, another pupil 
or the teacher should give his version. The whole 
class, as we said, should have this opportunity and this 
privilege. If there is not sufficient time one day for all 
to read, the opportunity should be afforded on succeed- 
ing days. A good selection, like a good song, never 
grows old and should be constantly repeated. The class 
should never get the idea that what is " finished " to-day 
is gone forever. On the contrary, they should feel that 
what has been theirs is theirs to continue. 

Sources. — The class in reading, especially in the upper 
grades, should not be strictly confined to any one book. 
Pupils should be given the privilege of selecting pieces 
from outside sources to be read in class. There is no 



58 Fundamentals in Methods 

reason why the selections included in some one text are 
the best, or that they are arranged in the best order to be 
studied and read ; nor does it make any particular dif- 
ference what is the name of the book from which the 
class is reading. There are selections placed in some 
third or even second readers, found in the fourth or 
fifth reader of another series. The name of the book 
is of little consequence. The reading book is merely a 
source book, a convenient place to find beautiful selec- 
tions of both prose and poetry. After the class have 
read a selection or two from each of several authors they 
may have a wish or a choice in regard to the selection 
to be studied and read next. A class may have taken 
a special liking to Holmes, for example, and if so, they 
should be given more of him than the reader offers. 
There should be much freedom for the teacher and the 
pupils in the selection of reading material ; they should 
feel their way and be guided by the taste and choice of 
all concerned. The main thing is, when a beautiful 
piece is introduced, to understand it, like it, and express 
it nicely. 

Promotions. — In rural schools, where supervision 
is lacking and where teachers change with every term, 
the question of promotion is a difficult and puzzling one. 
Frequently pupils come to school at the beginning of the 
next term either self-promoted or parentally promoted, 
thinking that if they only get into a book with a higher 
name they are, on this account, better readers. It 
frequently happens that pupils in the second reader or 
even in the first, read better than other pupils in the 
so-called fourth or fifth reader. Teachers should dis- 



Reading: A Criticism of Methods 59 

abuse the minds of children and of parents of this vicious 
fallacy. They should be taught to see that it makes 
little difference what the name of the book is if the pupil 
can only read well. Many pupils who are thus pro- 
moted into a book too advanced for them make sorry 
work of reading. It is a pitiable and painful experience 
to listen to the reading in some schools, all because the 
fundamental principles and aims of reading are not kept 
clearly in mind. 

Reading from a History. — There used to be an old 
notion that when children had finished the fourth 
reader they might be promoted into a United States 
history for reading purposes; the United States his- 
tory as a reader was considered more advanced than the 
so-called fourth reader. This, of course, was a silly 
blunder. A United States history is merely narrative, 
by the one author, while the subject-matter for a reading 
class should be varied, containing both prose and poetry 
by various authors. Furthermore, the subject-matter 
of reading should be the best of its kind; should be 
composed of real gems of literature, both in poetry and 
in prose : some humorous, some pathetic ; some narra- 
tive, some descriptive ; and so on. 

The Notebook. — One way to break up the habit of 
unwarranted promotion, and of consecutive reading in 
one book, would be for the pupils to have notebooks of 
a proper size into which choice selections from any and 
all sources should be written and preserved. These 
notebooks should be neat and well bound. When a 
gem of poetry or of prose is found it should be written 
upon the blackboard with great accuracy and copied 



60 Fundamentals in Methods 

by the pupils. This process will take some time, but 
it will be an excellent lesson in language, in writing, and 
in good form generally. A little rivalry should be 
created among pupils in regard to correctness and neat- 
ness in copying these gems into their notebooks. When 
called upon at any time to read one of these selections, 
they would either render it from memory or read it 
from the notebook. These books should be so kept 
that they will be prized by the pupils in after years. 
There is much note taking and much keeping of note- 
books that degenerate into slovenliness and bad habits. 
What is worth doing is worth doing well, and a little well 
done is worth any amount poorly done. A notebook 
which is so poorly kept that it repels even the pupil 
himself in a few months or a year will be thrown away 
as useless. In reading work of this kind a secondary 
object should be the building up of a really artistic note- 
book. The pupil's writing should grow better with 
succeeding pages, and the whole, when finished, should 
be the best work of which the pupil is capable. This 
notebook will then be worthy of being kept by the pupil 
as one of the books in his library ; and in after years, if 
some of the pictures have faded from memory's wall, 
he can still revive them and refresh them by turning to 
his notebook, which will bring back to his mind old 
school days and old memories. 

This method of preserving choice and favorite selec- 
tions need not displace entirely the regular reading book. 
It is offered here as a suggestion and as a possible and 
feasible solution of a problem in reading which many 
rural teachers and even grade teachers find difficult. 



CHAPTER VII 

READING: THE BEGINNINGS 

At Six Years of Age. — The school age in most states 
is placed at about six. Some children have learned to 
read at home, from their brothers and sisters or their 
companions, prior to that time. Many young children 
are unusually observant and keen, and these pick up 
reading in a way hardly known to others or even to 
themselves. But most children come to school at the 
age of six with an ear language, only; that is, all the 
words which they have learned are sound words. They 
have learned them by hearing them repeated over and 
over again in the nursery — in the home. Being very 
imitative, they have learned, as mere babies, to speak 
these words after hearing them repeated frequently. 
The number of words which children know by sound and 
which they then use, has been variously estimated. 
Max Mueller once said that the common English peasant 
knows only three hundred or four hundred words. This, 
we think, must be greatly underestimating, unless he 
refers to the lowest stratum of rude and crude society 
where people express themselves in very few words 
only. But the average American child who has been 
born into and brought up in an English-speaking home, 
knows probably from fifteen hundred to twenty-five 
hundred words. This may seem an overestimate, but 

61 



62 Fundamentals in Methods 

any mother with a child of this age can verify it for 
herself. A child, then, comes to school at the age of six 
with a vocabulary of at least fifteen hundred words 
which he knows by ear and can repeat vocally, but for 
which he has no visual signs in the way of print or script. 
From the Auditory to the Visual. — The aim, then, 
of the school and of the teacher is to make the transfer 
from the ear language of the child to the eye language 
— to a system of visual symbols which will indicate the 
same meanings as the auditory language which he al- 
ready has. The teacher and the school must establish 
a parallel system of visual symbols corresponding to the 
system of ear symbols which they find in the possession 
of the child. From now on the function of the school 
is to enable the child to gather meaning from a system 
of visual symbols as readily as he has been accustomed 
to gather it from the auditory symbols — the spoken 
words. The auditory line has at this time a great ad- 
vantage, a great lead, and the problem of the school is 
to enable the "child to catch up in the race along the 
visual road. A connection, or relation, must be estab- 
lished with the auditory symbol at every step, and the 
problem now is how to begin the establishment of this 
system of relations, how to enable the pupil to gather 
thought from the printed or written page as easily as he 
does from the living voice. If we take our cue from the 
way in which the child has learned the meaning of spoken 
words and the way in which he has learned to express 
himself orally, we shall not go far wrong. As a baby the 
pupil heard the same words over and over and over again, 
and the connection between the sound words thus heard 



Reading: The Beginnings 63 

and the thing or act indicated was established by the 
association which comes from repetition. It is a fact 
that when two things have been associated together 
many times and one of these is later brought to mind 
it brings the other with it. * 

The Word, the Basis. — Now, it would seem that the 
word is the meaningful thing in learning the visual 
symbols as it was in learning the auditory symbols. 
If the written or printed word be associated several 
times with the particular thing or act, the association 
becomes a habit and the bond or connection is estab- 
lished between the word and the meaning. It would 
seem, then, that what might be properly termed a 
" word method " of some kind is the most logical and 
psychological plan in the teaching of reading to beginners. 

Methods and Methods. — There have been, it is true, 
many discussions in regard to the word method, the 
letter method, the sentence method, and many variations 
of these, designated " methods " by persons who have 
exploited themselves or been exploited by their pub- 
lishers. There have been inflated treatises on such 
methods, as there have been on methods and systems 
of developing the power of memory. Whole systems 
have been worked out and the accent or emphasis 
placed upon some one method as a specific. These 
have frequently been like inverted cones; too much 
has frequently been made of a particular phase or 
aspect of the method of teaching children how to read ; 
for, when all is said and done, the fundamental problem 
is, how to establish such a relation between visual 
symbols and what they stand for, that the mere sight of a 



64 Fundamentals in Methods 

word or of words will bring the meaning at once, and 
also so that the word will have but one definite form 
engraved upon the mind of the child. 

Words, whether spoken or written, are merely symbols ; 
they are merely the go-between or medium between the 
mind of the child and the meaning implied or involved. 
Words in this way are of fro use if they bring to mind no 
meaning ; they are then only shells or husks. The great 
problem of the teacher, therefore, is to see to it that when 
a word is presented to the child it instantly raises in his 
mind its proper meaning. 

Teaching Foreign Children to Read. — If a child 
comes to school at the age of six and does not know the 
English language, the teacher has a double task on hand. 
The child must learn two languages; that is, he must 
learn a system of sounds, or the auditory language, and 
a system of visual symbols, or the eye language. This is 
frequently a great difficulty in schools where some or all 
of the children are of foreign parentage and where their 
vernacular is some other language than the English. 
In such a situation the teacher should spend much time 
in teaching the auditory language ; that is, in teaching 
the children the sound-words for all the common objects, 
actions, attributes, and relations ; and also the way to 
utter and use them correctly. The writer, as county 
superintendent, once visited a school where this was 
the pressing problem of the hour. The children were all 
learning the English language and the teacher there 
had this double duty to perform. 

Like the true teacher, he had won the children over to 
his side and had rendered them sensitive and suggestible 



Reading: The Beginnings 65 

to all his wishes and instructions. The children, of 
course, wished to learn to speak the English language, 
and their parents greatly desired it also. This was what 
the children were being sent to school for ; this was well 
understood by the parents, the pupils, and the teacher. 
The teacher did not wish his work to be undone by having 
the children speak their own vernacular, or foreign lan- 
guage, at recess and noons upon the playgrounds. He 
wished them to practice speaking the English language, 
and so he had worked them up to a point where they 
had agreed among themselves to speak nothing but 
English upon the playground. He had a motto, " Speak 
the English language," in large letters upon the wall 
over his desk where all the pupils could see it. Before 
dismissing the school at recess he said to them, " Now, 
what must we remember to do, out upon the playground 
at recess? " and they all answered loudly and in con- 
cert, " Speak the English language." It was noticeable, 
too, that they carried out the motto to the letter and in 
spirit, and thus the teacher was greatly aided in his 
teaching by willing cooperation on the part of the pupils 
themselves. 

The Alphabet Method. — We said that the word 
method, or some form of it, seems to be the natural way 
for pupils to begin. The writer once knew a boy about 
seven years of age who spent three whole months learning 
the alphabet by the old method then in vogue. Then 
the teacher even had to promise him a pound of candy 
the last day if he should know all his letters, when some 
visitors were to be on hand. This pupil was a normal 
boy and later became a successful business man. Here 



66 Fundamentals in Methods 

was a boy who had spent three months learning twenty- 
six symbols and had probably forgotten many of them a 
few days after the term had closed. This seems like 
a woeful waste of time and energy; the twenty-six 
letters, in themselves, meant nothing to him after three 
months of pedagogical malpractice. If the word method 
or combinations and variations of it had been introduced 
and used, this boy would probably have learned to read 
quite well within that time. But he was given no key 
with which to open doors, no tool with which to work. 
Letters are somewhat complicated things to the child 
mind, and when they mean nothing — when they produce 
nothing and do nothing — it would seem that such a 
method when used exclusively must be a wrong one. 
Of course many great men and women have learned to 
read by the letter method, but they have probably done 
so in spite of it rather than on account of it. To begin 
with letters is to begin too far down with the elements of 
language. It would be better to begin with a word 
which has a meaning and then to allow or to induce a 
a child as soon as he wishes or as soon as he can, to arrive 
at a recognition of these letter elements. Children 
should be allowed and even encouraged to analyze a word 
as soon as possible. Some teachers, it is true, refrain 
from teaching letters at all until quite late, and even 
take some pains to keep the names of the letters from 
their pupils. This, we think, is a mistake. While some 
of these names are in no way significant of their sounds 
or powers, some of them are quite so ; and every little 
bit helps. Children, like adults, like to know what 
things are called; and this is well, for a name is an intro- 



Reading: The Beginnings 67 

duction. If a child learns on the side or in any manner 
the names and powers of the letters, he is so far ahead. 

The Phonic Key. — A child should be taught to 
notice the sound, or what is called the power of the letter, 
as soon as he is ready for it. Some children reach this 
phonic stage much earlier than others. This plan of 
noting and using the sounds of the letters by the children 
and of employing it by the teacher is called the " phonic 
method.' ' Instead of being called a method, however, 
it is simply a phase of the observation and learning 
process. If the children note the sound of a letter 
and what it does in a word, the teacher should take 
advantage of this sound-key and use it whenever and 
wherever possible. No one method should be employed 
to the exclusion of others ; in life everywhere we should 
take advantage of everything that offers itself ; and so, 
where the children notice the sounds of letters and can 
put these sounds together, they have acquired what 
might be called the phonic key. They will be enabled 
to use this key in unlocking the sound and hence the 
meaning of new words. A little girl of three years who 
had learned much from her brothers and sisters and from 
companions in regard to reading, came to her father one 
day, pointing out to him, with her finger, two words and 
saying : " That is cat and that is cats " ; and then point- 
ing to the letter " s," she asked, " Is that the little thing 
that says ' s-s ' ? " This little girl had arrived at the 
phonic stage. She was just beginning to be observant 
of sounds and thus was enabled to use the phonic key. 

The good primary teacher who has been over the road 
many times will have a carefully selected list of words 



68 Fundamentals in Methods 

which will guide the class toward phonic material and 
give them revelations in the use of their key. There are 
several families of words, that is, words which follow 
some law of similar sound ; and when the child becomes 
acquainted with the phonics of such words and then 
comes upon a new word embodying the same letters or 
groups of letters he is enabled to unlock it by his phonic 
key. He is thus stimulated to new conquests and 
aroused to greater enthusiasm. 

A Case in Beginnings. — A superintendent of schools 
in a small western city was accustomed to supervise 
the first few months of the teaching of reading in his 
schools somewhat on the following plan: He had five 
first grades in five different buildings in the city, and it 
was his custom to ride his bicycle from one building to 
another. When these five teachers began their work 
in the fall he would visit them alternately on the same 
day. He would ask Miss A how many words she had 
taught up to date ; he would then visit Miss B's room 
and ask her how many words she had taught. If she 
said fifteen, he would tell her that Miss A had taught 
only ten. On visiting Miss C's room he asked the same 
question, and if he found out that she had taught only 
seven, he would say that Miss A had taught ten and Miss 
B fifteen. As he made the rounds in this manner the 
information about one teacher would serve as a guide to 
another, and so the five teachers, by knowing what 
each was doing, kept along pretty nearly together. 

The First Three Months. — His plan was to have the 
words and their combinations found on a particular 
chart, taught first in script, by having them written 



Reading: The Beginnings 69 

upon the board by the teacher and the pupils. There are 
from three hundred to four hundred different words in 
the ordinary chart. All of these were mastered by the 
pupils in about three months. The teacher wrote the 
words in a good, round, legible hand, suggesting similari- 
ties to the printed letters. She did not print the letters, 
but her script was round and plain. When her pupils 
could recognize instantly all of the words of the chart 
thus written in script upon the blackboard, the chart 
itself was opened and, as the superintendent put it, 
the pupils were rushed thru it. Pupils will pass from 
script to print much more easily and rapidly than from 
print to script; and so all of these children made the 
transfer from the script to the corresponding print words 
in the chart, in a very short time — in about two weeks. 

First Readers. — A standard first reader was then 
taken up in each of these rooms. When this was read 
thru, it was sent to another building. A first reader of 
another series was then taken up and read, and when this 
in turn was completed it followed the first to another build- 
ing, and a third first reader was read. By the end of the 
year the pupils in each room had thus finished six first 
readers, the regular text and five supplementary readers. 

The Test of the Pudding. — The writer had the pleas- 
ure of visiting one of these rooms near the close of the 
year, and he can testify that he has seldom heard such 
excellent, childlike reading. Sometimes reading, even 
in higher grades, is childish, rather than childlike. All 
of the children seemed enthusiastic and desirous of being 
allowed to read in the presence of the school and of the 
visitors. In this test the superintendent would ask the 



yo Fundamentals in Methods 

class to turn, for example, to page 76. This indicated 
that they had, incidentally, learned to count and to 
recognize numbers. He then told the class to read 
silently a certain portion of that page and to be able, 
if called upon, to read it aloud. This indicated that 
they had been taught the habit of first getting the thought 
before attempting to give it. He would then inquire 
who wished to read that portion for him. All hands were 
up, indicating great anxiety to be allowed the privilege. 
He would then point out some particular child, and 
invariably each acquitted himself or herself in a simple 
but masterly manner. It was better reading than is 
often heard in the third or fourth reader. It may be 
that in some schools more is done in one year than a 
reading chart and six first readers ; but whatever is done 
and however it is done, the aim is accomplished when 
the pupils at the end of the year are able to glean the 
thought understanding^ from the printed page and 
then to express it feelingly, naturally, and well. 

Expression in Writing. — The writer once visited a 
school where the children were reading on the last 
pages of a first reader but had not yet learned to write 
a single word. This, of course, was a great mistake. 
When children come to school they have, as we said, 
fifteen hundred or more words in the auditory fine and 
are able to express themselves orally. After several 
months or a year the children should be well along on 
the visual road and should be able to express themselves 
fairly well. The ability to speak followed closely upon 
the recognition of sound words in babyhood ; and now 
the ability to write should follow closely upon the heels 



Reading: The Beginnings 71 

of the ability to recognize sight words; this is part of 
the problem of reading in the first grade. 

The Pupil Dependent in Reading and Cognate Sub- 
jects. — Some one has said that the child is under no 
great obligation to his teacher for the understanding 
which he gets of numbers in his first year ; he would get 
this incidentally and on the side and in any event. But 
he is under lasting obligation to her for the progress he 
makes in learning to read. Reading, moreover, is the 
mother of several other subjects: In its beginnings it 
embodies spelling, writing, and language work, and 
these three all come in for attention while the child is 
learning to read; in fact, they are a part of what is 
called reading. All these are important and should be 
attended to while the reading process is being learned; 
but they are all so wrapped up with reading that they do 
not require a special time of their own until later on in 
the school curriculum. Being conventional and forming 
a part of the tool needed for further progress, they can 
not be picked up, like number concepts, on the side, but 
must be acquired from the teacher and the school. 

Form and Content in the Tool Stage. — This is the 
tool stage in the reading process. The child is learning 
how to use the tool which will be indispensable in every 
field later. But the best way to learn to use any tool is 
to use it in doing something worth while. The old idea 
and the old practice in teaching reading used to be to 
keep children merely marking time upon combinations 
of words. Silly sentences were constructed that were 
as devoid of meaning as a crane's leg is of feathers. In 
some of the old books used to be the words, " ax," 



72 Fundamentals in Methods^ 

" ox," and then the sentence, " Is it an ax or an ox? " 
It was thought that children had to be kept using the 
tool on almost nothing for weeks and months, just as the 
boy who had spent three months learning the alphabet 
and then could not use it as a tool. This same practice 
has been too much in vogue in other fields : In manual 
training boys used to be kept on the making and fitting 
of a joint for weeks and weeks. The consequence was 
that they became tired of it all and lost interest in it. 
They were kept making joints merely for the sake of 
making them instead of making them while making 
something useful. This same pedagogical vice is often 
found in the teaching of music : Music pupils are often 
kept going over the scales for weeks when they long to 
play something. They are kept so long upon the form 
without any content that they lose interest in their 
music altogether. The " merciful " dummy in the form 
of a muffled piano is a merciless stifler of interest and 
development in the musical life of the child. It is good 
pedagogy to do something worth while with a tool just as 
soon as the use of the tool is learned. There should be 
some content to work upon. Hence, children's stories and 
other interesting content should be the subject-matter of 
charts and first readers. The charts and readers of recent 
years are good in this respect, with probably a tendency 
to make them too childish and girlish. 

Words — Total, Known, and Used. — One of the 
problems in teaching children to read is to bring words 
which were before unknown into the known class, and 
then to bring them from the known class into the used 
class. There is a great difference between these. There 



Reading: The Beginnings 73 

are probably in the English language 100,000 words 
fully anglicized and of definite use. Of these probably 
40,000 are known to the average intelligent person. 
But it is probable that not more than one fourth of the 
words which one knows are in his vocabulary ; that is, 
are used by him. If any one should desire to find out 
how many words he knows, he can estimate it in a few 
minutes : Let him turn at random to a page in an un- 
abridged dictionary; count the words in one column, 
and count the number of these which he knows ; he may 
get a ratio, say, of one third. Then let him turn at 
random to another page and count the words in a column 
and the number of these which he knows ; he may here 
get a ratio of two sevenths. Let him do likewise with 
several columns, from pages taken at random. Averag- 
ing the fractional ratios will give the average ratio of 
the known words to the total number. If the average 
ratio be two fifths, and the total number of words in the 
dictionary be about 100,000, it would mean that a person 
knows about 40,000 words. 

It is said that Shakespeare used in all his works about 
15,000 words: This was his vocabulary. Milton used 
about 8000 words. There is no reason why the average, 
intelligent person of to-day should not know and use as 
many words as either of these writers. Merely using 
them, however, is far from using them in the Miltonic or 
Shakespearian manner. 

In the process of reading, the general aim being the 
gleaning and the expressing of thought, pupils should be 
taught to express themselves both orally and in writing 
— both by the tongue and by the hand. 



CHAPTER VIII 

READING: SAMPLE LESSONS 

I. The Recessional 

Aims and Methods Similar. — The proper methods of 
acquiring proficiency in reading and in the teaching of 
reading are very much the same from the second grade 
in the elementary school to the college and university. 
After the tool stage has been passed and pupils are 
able to use this tool, or master key, with proficiency 
the aim and the means are very similar in all grades 
and stages. 

The Presentation. — Having given the fundamental 
principles (Chap. V), a lesson on criticism (Chap. VI), 
and one on special methods in learning to read (Chap. 
VII), let us take a couple of examples and illustrate some 
phases of the method and procedure of the teacher 
and the class while engaged upon them. Suppose the 
selection chosen for study and reading were Kipling's 
Recessional : 

Recessional 

God of our fathers, known of old — 
Lord of our far-flung battle line — 

Beneath whose awful hand we hold 
Dominion over palm and pine — 

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, 

Lest we forget — lest we forget ! 
74 



Reading: Sample Lessons 75 

The tumult and the shouting dies — 

The captains and the kings depart ; 
Still stands thine ancient sacrifice, 

An humble and a contrite heart. 
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, 
Lest we forget — lest we forget ! 

Far-called our navies melt away — ■ 
On dune and headland sinks the fire — 

Lo, all our pomp of yesterday 
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre ! 

Judge of the nations, spare us yet, 

Lest we forget — lest we forget ! 

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose 

Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe — ■ 

Such boasting as the Gentiles use 
Or lesser breeds without the law — 

Lord God of Hosts be with us yet, 

Lest we forget — lest we forget ! 

For heathen heart that puts her trust 

In reeking tube and iron shard — 
All valiant dust that builds on dust, 

And guarding calls not Thee to guard — 
For frantic boast and foolish word, 
Thy mercy on thy people, Lord ! 
Amen. 

This poem is now before the class, either offered by 
one of the members or suggested by the teacher. There 
are, of course, several different methods of approach 
and the following would be one. The teacher, having 
made due preparation herself in regard to the situation 
and the occasion of the poem, would present it somewhat 
as follows : 



76 Fundamentals in Methods 

Preparatory Information by the Teacher or Pupils. — 
On the occasion of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, 
on the fiftieth anniversary of her accession to the English 
throne, there was planned a great military and naval 
display. The English navy had been called from all 
parts of the earth and the English army was on parade. 
Ministers, diplomats, and ambassadors from nearly all 
civilized countries were present to do honor to the queen, 
and graced the occasion. Princes and kings were the 
guests of England. It was a gala time and all Britain 
was full of cheer and of praise for her beloved queen. 
All nations paused to do her honor and, in doing her 
honor, to honor the British empire. It was an occasion 
that might well cause undue pride in any nation. 

Rudyard Kipling, seeing this danger, was inspired with 
the happy thought of embodying it in what is probably 
his greatest poem. It occurred to him that such homage 
and adulation might easily " turn the head " of the 
English nation and make it lose itself in pride. The 
prayer in the Recessional is one for deliverance from 
this danger. In imagination it was supposed to be sung 
while the people receded from the churches after the prin- 
cipal ceremony of the Jubilee celebration. Symbolically 
it is a prayer for the preservation of England's humility 
while the great ones of the earth who had come to 
England to praise, if not to flatter her, were receding to 
their homes in distant countries. 

The above would be a simple introduction and prep- 
aration given to the class in connection with the assign- 
ment of this beautiful selection which is to be studied, 
discussed, and explained with individual variations by 



Reading: Sample Lessons 77 

the pupils and the teacher the succeeding day. The 
introduction given by the teacher would constitute a 
kind of apperception mass — the avenue of approach 
to the study of the poem. It would give the general 
situation in view of which many of the words, phrases, 
and allusions would be explained or understood. 

Work for the Pupils. — In addition to the foregoing 
explanatory introduction by the teacher, many questions, 
left unasked and unanswered for the present, would be 
a propos and forthcoming. Up to this point the teacher 
has told probably as much as she should. She has 
given some instruction, some knowledge of the situation, 
and this is one function, as we saw, of the recitation. 
She has given the approach and prepared the minds of the 
class for the reception and the study of the poem. She 
has enlisted their interest and probably raised many 
questions in their minds. This, as we saw, was another 
function of the recitation period. The following ques- 
tions might well be asked so that the pupils would have 
something definite before them in their study and 
solution of the problem in hand. This problem for the 
first succeeding lesson would be the understanding and 
the liking of the poem, rather than the reading or the 
expression of it, which should come later and should 
not be attempted until the meaning is fairly clear and 
until there is a decided impulse or wish in the minds and 
hearts of the pupils to read or express it. 

Preliminary Questions. — In connection with the 
first stanza it might be asked: What is prayed for? 
What is the meaning of " dominion over palm and 
pine " ? In the refrain, where it says, " Lest we for- 



78 Fundamentals in Methods 

get ! ", what is it that England might forget on such an 
occasion ? 

In the second stanza what is referred to in " the 
tumult and the shouting " ? Who were " the captains 
and the kings " ? Whither did they depart? What is 
specifically meant by " thine ancient sacrifice " ? 

In the third stanza what is meant by " dune and 
headland" ? What "fire" sinks? What is meant by 
"all our pomp of yesterday," and by being " one with 
Nineveh and Tyre " ? 

In the fourth stanza what is the meaning of " drunk 
with sight of power," and of " loose wild tongues " ? 
Who are the " Gentiles " referred to, and " the lesser 
breeds " ? What law is meant in " without the law " ? 

In the fifth stanza what are the " reeking tube and 
iron shard " ? What is meant by " all valiant dust 
that builds " ? What is prayed for in the last stanza? 
When was this Jubilee ? 

The above, then, is the preparation and the assign- 
ment for the next lesson. The pupils have been put 
in a sympathetic and inquisitive attitude; they have 
been made receptive and suggestible, and still a sufficient 
amount of work is left for them to do. In fact, with 
all the time at their disposal and with their best abilities 
they will not be able to get, in one lesson, the fullness of 
meaning in the poem. There are depths and depths to 
a great poem, as there are to a great truth. There will 
be room left for other variations of meaning and of read- 
ing in this poem ; new truths will be continually revealed, 
for a poetical gem is like a diamond : it flashes differ- 
ently with every turn and phase. 



Reading: Sample Lessons 79 

The Old Way and the Poor Way. — The old way — 

and the way which is even now altogether too common — 
was for the teacher, without making any previous prep- 
aration or investigation of the succeeding lesson, and 
without having looked ahead to see what the lesson was 
about or even what the extent of it was, merely to assign 
the next lesson or sometimes the next two lessons, and 
then to dismiss the class without a single question in 
regard to the meaning of pivotal words or of the literary, 
historical, or scientific allusions. The question, " What 
does this mean? " is even now too seldom asked. With 
such methods of teaching it is not surprising that poor 
work is done, not only in reading,. but in all subjects. 
Proximate Analysis. — The questioning referred to 
should be such as to secure what might be called a 
" proximate analysis " of the panoramic picture in 
the Recessional. By a proximate analysis we mean 
a partial analysis, one that is not driven too deeply 
into the details or into subject-matter too remote and 
not directly relevant. Succeeding lessons will add 
much to the first day's analysis without making it 
ultimate, even when the class leaves this lesson for the 
next. By " ultimate analysis " we mean one which 
goes beyond the purpose at hand and far into details. 
This might be illustrated by the study of a great oil 
painting : it is worthy of a certain kind of analysis but 
this analysis should never become ultimate. If we 
should go up to the picture and scrutinize it, either 
with the naked eye or with a microscope, so that the 
pigments or the canvas would become the object of our 
attention and investigation, instead of the picture as a 



80 Fundamentals in Methods 

whole, we should have what may be called an ultimate 
analysis. But this would simply destroy the picture. 
There is a truth in this illustration which should not be 
overlooked in the study of any work of art, whether it 
be painting, sculpture, architecture, music, literature, or 
religion. Analysis may be driven so far that the pic- 
ture is destroyed. If the pupils should be required to 
dissect the Recessional so ultimately that their minds 
would dwell upon the grammar, the language work, the 
writing, the spelling, or the syllables, the poem itself, 
like the oil painting, would be destroyed. Of course, 
incidentally and for special reasons, side excursions 
might be taken in the direction of ultimate analysis, 
but the teacher and the class should not become lost in 
the wilderness but should retrace their steps quickly as 
soon as the incidental aim has been attained. The 
great aim in the study of the poem should be to make an 
artistic picture stand out clearly ; and the class and the 
teacher should station themselves at the proper point of 
view. 

The Reading. — When the poem has been studied 
and discussed and when the right point of view has been 
found and the picture stands out in all its beauty, and 
when the pupils become possessed of a love of it, then it 
is time to begin the various expressions of it by the 
teacher and the pupils. This should not be over-done 
on any occasion, for improvement in expression will still 
be in store for the future. In fact, members of the class 
should be called upon or should be allowed to read this 
whole poem entire, at any time and upon any occasion 
when they feel the impulse, as the days and weeks go 



Reading: Sample Lessons 81 

by. Like the old song, or like Booth's rendering of the 
Lord's Prayer, the reading of the Recessional should 
be in order at any time. 

The Return Wave. — While it is true that the under- 
standing and the liking of a selection naturally precede 
the expression of it, it should not be forgot that the 
cycle returns upon itself, and that the oral reading acts 
like a relay battery in augmenting both the understand- 
ing and the appreciation. To read or sing a poem tends 
to further illumine the intellect and to warm the heart 
to its inward meaning. If the teacher and the pu- 
pils could sing the Recessional as set to music by 
DeKoven, for instance, the appreciation of the poem 
would be greatly enhanced. 

A Study of Details. — ■ During the reading of this 
poem, after it has been proximately analyzed, and after a 
love of it has been engendered in the hearts of the pupils, 
reasonable attention should be paid to the intonation, 
the inflection, and the emphasis on its various parts. 
Where words are mispronounced or where the voice is not 
properly inflected, or where the proper emphasis is not 
given, kindly and suggestive criticism should be ex- 
changed. This should always be of the suggestive kind 
rather than of the adverse type. When the teacher 
and the pupils have all had the opportunity and the 
privilege of reading the poem, different versions will 
have been noticed and questions will be raised as to 
why certain words or lines were inflected or emphasized 
as they were. For example, in the fourth stanza the 
question might be raised as to why the word " we " 
should be specially emphasized — " Lest we forget ! " 



82 Fundamentals in Methods 

Different Versions. — Much freedom should be given 
pupils in regard to different versions. A discussion 
over what may seem to us an unreasonable version, on 
account of a special emphasis by a pupil, may be of 
great value to him and the class if he has become con- 
vinced that his rendering is the best. Here, as else- 
where, it is what arouses to growth that is of most value 
as a means ; consequently the emphasis and inflection 
given by one person should not be imposed arbitrarily 
upon another. Expression means movement from 
within outward, and each person should be allowed 
considerable freedom in expressing his own thought and 
feeling. If reasons are given by one reader which will 
find a responsive assent, the new emphasis or inflection 
will undoubtedly be adopted by others. Here there 
should be a leveling up to good reading, which consists 
in the simple and faithful expression of the real situation 
in a truly artistic manner. 

Punctuation and Pauses. — All artificial rules in 
regard to pauses and punctuation should be avoided. 
In the older days most of us were taught to stop long 
enough at a comma to count one; at a semicolon, to 
count two ; at a colon, to count three ; and at a period, 
to count four ! All this, of course, is pure nonsense. 
Punctuation marks are marks of sense and not marks of 
time. We frequently stop longer where there is no 
punctuation mark at all than we do at other places 
where there is a period. The punctuation marks are 
intended merely to indicate the meaning, and such 
rules as the foregoing would make reading very artificial 
and conventional, indeed. 



Reading: Sample Lessons 83 

Biography of the Author. — At some time during the 
dicussion of this selection some information should be 
secured and given in regard to the author. It is not 
well in the teaching of reading to children to compel 
them to gather all the detailed facts in regard to the life 
of an author. This would correspond exactly with what 
we called ultimate analysis of his poem. Enough should 
be known about him, however, to throw side lights of 
interest upon the selection. Interesting information 
in regard to the author and his life might be given by the 
children at any time during the term. Something, 
however, should be known in regard to the author of 
a selection which we prize and which we are reading. 
What is his nationality ? Where was he born ? Was he 
ever in America ? What are some of his other writings ? 
In connection with this last question the class might be 
introduced to the Jungle Books. A little later the class 
might be asked if they should like to study and read 
another poem by Rudyard Kipling. If so, one might 
be chosen. His Gunda Din was given by one critic 
among the first ten great short poems in the language. 
Any interesting thing that might be reported either by 
the teacher or by the pupils in regard to the author or in 
regard to the poem that is being studied would add to 
the literary interest of all concerned. 

II. A Tribute to Washington 

Avoid too much Thoroness. — It should not be under- 
stood that one poem should be completed before another 
is taken up. In fact, there is scarcely any such thing as 
completing a poem. The poem, like the song or the great 



84 Fundamentals in Methods 

picture, grows upon one continually. If too much time 
is spent upon it before there is any change to another, 
the pupils might well tire of it. There is such a thing 
as too much thoroness. It is a very common mistake for 
a mature and scholarly person to attempt to give his 
complete mental picture in all its detailed relations to 
a class of children. The mind of a pupil can compre- 
hend only so much and only what it is prepared to 
receive. It would be impossible, for example, to make a 
child understand trigonometry. The same is true of the 
mental picture which involves deep philosophical and 
allegorical ramifications of all kinds. As there is a 
point in analysis at which we should stop, so there is a 
point in the conception of every subject beyond which 
there should be no attempt to lead a class until they 
are better prepared. There are depths and depths of 
understanding, as there are depths and depths to a truth. 
Too much thoroness and the dwelling too long upon a 
subject frequently tends to what is called arrested devel- 
opment or else it creates in the minds of pupils an 
aversion or antipathy to the subject studied. 

Gems in Brief. — Short selections of either prose or 
poetry are to be preferred in the teaching of reading. 
Children, we think, like these best, and they have the 
added advantage of expressing a complete unity. They 
may, too, be memorized without great effort and when 
so memorized, understood, and loved, they will scarcely 
ever be forgotten. Children, especially in the grades, 
soon tire of long selections. The writer, as a boy, 
remembers very vividly that he always preferred to hoe 
corn crosswise the field, taking the short rows, rather 



Reading: Sample Lessons 85 

than lengthwise where the rows were long and the 
changes few. So it is with selections for reading. A 
gentleman once noticed that his puppy would not eat 
when a large chunk of food was placed before him ; but 
when small portions were broken off for him, the puppy 
ate them with great avidity. This illustrates a principle 
in teaching children. They shrink from attacking a big 
task but may be induced to do much by giving to them 
small portions which do not paralyze their courage and 
their appetite. 

Another Example. — To give another example of teach- 
ing let us take Byron's tribute to Washington — a beau- 
tiful gem expressing the profound appreciation of the 
great American by the great English poet. It runs as 
follows : 

Where may the wearied eye repose 
When gazing on the great ? 
Where neither guilty glory glows, 
Nor despicable state? 
Yes, one — ■ the first, the last, the best, 
The Cincinnatus of the West, 
Whom envy dared not hate — ■ 
Bequeathed the name of Washington, 
To make man blush there was but one. 

The Preparation and Questions. — The above poem, 
by Byron, is rather a difficult one to read orally. It 
should not be attempted by the class until it has been 
carefully studied and discussed. The correct pronuncia- 
tion of several pivotal words should first be acquired. 
These will appear in the following questions, which will 
serve as a preparation lesson and give the class an aim 



86 Fundamentals in Methods 

in the study of the poem. The teacher should see to it 
that the pupils are forming the dictionary and the 
encyclopedia habits; that is, they should be acquiring 
the tendency to get on the scent of the meaning; to 
chase down meanings which are not yet fully in their 
possession. Before this poem is undertaken the teacher 
should have introduced the class to Cincinnatus and to 
several of the so-called " great " in history, without 
telling them that the poem was to be read later. 

Questions. — It might be asked : Why is the eye 
wearied? Who are the " great " probably referred to? 
Why did " guilty glory glow " ? What is the meaning 
of these three words? What is such a similarity of 
sounds as is found here called ? Watch for other similar 
instances. Find the correct pronunciation and meaning 
of " despicable." Why and where was there such a 
"state"? Who was Cincinnatus? Who was the 
"Cincinnatus of the West"? What is envy? Why 
did it not " dare to hate " Washington? What is the 
grammatical subject of " bequeathed " ? Why should 
it " make man blush " that there was but one Washing- 
ton? 

The Emphasis of Time. — Time is an essential 
element in good reading. This is well illustrated in this 
poem. What is known as the emphasis of time is a 
much finer emphasis than the emphasis of force. Some 
words should be drawn, so to speak, so as to give them 
meaning — time to settle into or to grow into the mind 
of the hearer. The emphasis of time is very expressive, 
and good readers make much use of it. In the sentence, 
" Know the truth, and the truth will make you free," the 



Reading: Sample Lessons 87 

meaning becomes much more impressive if the last 
word, " free/' is drawn or given more time. 

In the foregoing poem the teacher should carefully 
and artistically see to it that the enunciation, pronuncia- 
tion, and emphasis of time should be secured. The 
teacher can always do this best thru suggestion and 
imitation. The most artistic teacher is the one who 
can get these things done before it is known by the 
pupils how they are done. 

In order to impress the effect of time the class might 
be asked whether the reading of the above poem in 
fifteen seconds would be a good reading. This they 
may try out experimentally for themselves and in doing 
this they will be brought face to face with the value of 
time in reading. They might then be asked if thirty 
seconds would give a better reading; and they might 
even try forty-five seconds. Such experiments will 
bring out questions and discussions of various kinds. 
The old perfunctory criticism that " he read too fast " 
might then assume meaning and be used with discretion. 

Reading Period, a Holy Time. — The reading period 
should be one of the happiest and most interesting 
in the child's life. Some one has said that the reading 
period should be a " holy time," in which all would 
be both serious and happy, almost forgetting themselves 
and the passing of time. If beautiful gems of literature 
are introduced — and none but such should be intro- 
duced — and if the teacher were an inspiration, such an 
end and aim should not be difficult to accomplish. If 
these methods be pursued, the children will look forward 
to the reading time with pleasure instead of looking 



88 Fundamentals in Methods 

forward to it as a time of drudgery and as a task to be 
got thru with. It will be a period when pupils will 
come " out of their shells " and will, in a true sense, 
build for themselves " more stately mansions." 

One Selection May Suggest Another. — The very 
mention of " more stately mansions " would suggest, 
for example, in the last paragraph, The Chambered 
Nautilus, by Oliver Wendell Holmes. His Flower of 
Liberty would lend itself beautifully to two or three 
recitation periods. Thus one thing suggests another; 
and so it should be in a reading class. Hamlin 
Garland's i" Love My Prairies should be read and learned 
by all children of the great Northwest. Lincoln's Gettys- 
burg Address would be a beautiful picture to hang 
upon memory's wall, and in this connection the class 
should be introduced to that little gem, The Perfect 
Tribute, by Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews. 
Tennyson's Break ! Break ! Break ! gives a beautiful 
picture — but we merely suggest a few ; the list can 
be increased indefinitely. 

Freedom in Details. — We must leave the working 
out of details and specific methods in the teaching of 
reading to the individual teacher. We have suggested 
the foregoing somewhat general methods, that some 
things may not be forgotten. There is an infinite vari- 
ety wherein these general principles are applicable ; and 
so within this scope each teacher should be free to work 
out her own plans to a successful result. 



CHAPTER IX 

WORD WORK: THE FORM 

Spelling, or Orthography. — In learning to read, 
children come to notice sooner or later the parts, or 
elements of words; they notice that the same letters 
occur over and over again, and that in the same word 
these same symbols always occur in the same consecu- 
tive order. This is really what is known as spelling, or 
orthography. Mere spelling is simply one phase of 
word work ; the proper, the conventional arrangement, or 
combination, of the letters in the word. This is the 
implication of the word " orthography," which etymolog- 
ically means the " correct writing " of the word. Spell- 
ing, then, emerges from reading as a separate exercise 
when it is thought best to have a period in which the 
primary attention is given to words, as words. 

Mere Spelling, not Sufficient. — But mere spelling, 
or simple orthography, is only a small part, as we shall 
see, of the work which should be done by both teacher 
and pupils upon words. Consequently, sooner or later, 
a special period should be set aside for what is usually 
called spelling or orthography but which should properly 
be much more comprehensive than the implications of 
these terms. In fact, it has been a prevalent and 
widespread mistake on the part of teachers to be sat- 
isfied with the mere spelling of words. In former days 
it was a common practice, which is probably too prev- 

89 



90 Fundamentals in Methods 

alent to-day, to assign a list of fifteen to twenty-five 
words to the class with the understanding that at the 
next recitation period these words were merely to be 
spelled correctly. Frequently this was all that was done ; 
the interesting connotations of these words were seldom 
discussed ; the meaning or definition was seldom asked ; or 
if required it frequently remained as obscure as the word 
defined ; it was defining the unknown by the unknown. 
The pupils were not required to use the words in any way. 
The consequence was that they did not become a part of 
the pupil's vocabulary ; they were merely isolated things 
held in mind for the time being by pure memory. Being 
isolated, they were dead as far as any educational value 
was concerned; and a dead thing in the mind is little 
better than a dead thing anywhere else. 

Syllabication, Important. — If the correct letters 
and their correct sequence in the word are important, 
it must also be important to know the larger divisions, 
or syllables, of a word, for words must frequently be 
divided at the end of a line; consequently, what is 
called syllabication is almost as important as spelling 
itself. It is not, however, considered as serious a blunder 
to divide a word incorrectly as it is to misspell it. It is 
difficult to see why this is so, but most conventions are 
probably beyond complete and reasonable explanation. 

Methods of Syllabication. — In written spelling the 
syllable may be indicated by a space or a break, while in 
oral spelling it is sufficient to indicate it by a pause. 
A generation or two ago all spelling was oral, and in 
many places syllabication was made a complex art. 
What is known as " reduplication " was quite the 



Word Work : The Form 91 

custom. An example of this would be as follows: 
The teacher would pronounce a word, say, " convention- 
al." The pupils would say : " c-o-n, con; v-e-n, ven, 
conven ; t-i-o-n, shun, convention ; a-1, at; conventional." 
This is entirely unnecessary and a waste of time and 
energy. The purpose was probably to habituate the 
pupil in syllabication and in the distinct enunciation of 
the syllables; but these ends may be secured without 
this extreme of repetition. 

Another plan was to pronounce each syllable as it 
was spelled, without repeating the syllables, and then, 
gathering up all of the past, pronounce the word as a 
whole ; as for example, in the word " pronunciation " ; 
the pupils would say, " p-r-o, pro; n-u-n, nun; c-i, ce; 
a, a; t-i-o-n, shun; pronunciation." This seems also an 
unnecessary waste of time and attention to details. It 
would be sufficient to give the letters of each syllable and 
to make a slight pause between the syllables, as for ex- 
ample : P-r-o, n-u-n, c-i, a, t-i-o-n, pronunciation. In this 
case the enunciation and pronunciation may be distinctly 
given without any unnecessary repetition or waste of time. 

In Oral Spelling. — In spelling exercises and spelling 
contests only one trial at a word should be allowed. To 
allow more than this results in mere guessing. Of 
course, if a pupil should spell a word thru, and then, 
when he has heard his own voice, should decide, of his 
own accord and without any help or hint, that it is 
incorrect, he should be allowed to change his mind and 
give a new verdict. A person does this in writing, 
where he receives no help, and the same should be 
allowed in oral spelling. This is quite a different situa- 



92 Fundamentals in Methods 

tion from that in which a pupil misspells a word and is 
told that he has spelled it incorrectly and that he may 
try it another way. 

In oral spelling, when the teacher has distinctly pro- 
nounced a word the pupil should pronounce it in turn. 
This will be evidence that he has the word clearly in 
mind. The pupil should then give the letters in each 
syllable, making a pause between the syllables, and at 
the close should pronounce the word again to give and 
to get a sense of completeness. 

There is no objection to introducing into the spelling 
exercise some slight rivalry, by recognizing and making 
known, by some just and sensible plan, the person who is 
the most successful speller and who has made the best 
record in every way. 

Pronunciation and Enunciation. — By pronunciation 
we mean the correct sounding of the word as a whole, 
and by enunciation, the distinct utterance of each syl- 
lable. It would be possible, and indeed it frequently 
happens, that the enunciation is sufficiently distinct 
while the pronunciation of a word is incorrect. It 
would be well for the teacher and the class to gather 
from their experience a list of words which are usually 
mispronounced. We scarcely ever listen to a speaker 
that we do not feel that he has mispronounced some 
words. We, ourselves, frequently mispronounce words 
for years without knowing it. 

The writer once knew a man, fifty years of age, a 
member of a legislature, who was surprised one morning 
to find that there are two r's in the word, February. He 
had always pronounced it " Febuary," omitting the 



Word Work: The Form 



93 



first 



It might be said that the spelling of the 



name of this month is a stumbling block to many others 
besides this lawmaker. We venture to give here the 
following list of words frequently mispronounced and 
suggest that the teacher and the pupils add to it such 
others, from time to time, as their observation and 
experience may furnish : 



Words often Mispronounced. 

i. thither 

2. extraordinary 

3. geography 

4. history 

5. been 

6. attacked 

7. discipline 

8. influence 

9. forehead 

10. mountainous 

11. mamma 

12. obligatory 

13. slough 

14. inquiry 

15. drowned 

16. bade 

17. again 

18. February 

19. sword 

20. often 

21. granary 

22. mischievous 

23. hearth 

24. bellows (in a forge) 

25. papa 

26. Iowa 



27. impious 

28. pedagogy 

29. creek 

30. deficit 

31. civilization 

32. finance 

S3, government 

34. mirage 

35. zoology 

36. won't 

37. squalor 

38. photographer 

39. lyceum 

40. Arctic 

41. apparatus 

42. ere 

43. Missouri 

44. laundry 

45. sacrifice 

46. infamous 

47. genuine 

48. coagulate 

49. exaggerate 
50." mercantile 

51. architect 

52. massacre 



94 Fundamentals in Methods 

Difficult Sounds for Foreigners. — People of dif- 
ferent nationalities have their own peculiar difficulties 
with certain sounds and words. It is very important 
that teachers see to it that children at an early age, 
before the habit becomes set and unchangeable, be taught 
the correct pronunciation of all such words. Strange as 
it may seem the difficulty is frequently with the ear, or 
the hearing, rather than with the ability to utter the 
correct sounds. In later years foreign children will 
thank their early teachers for much drill at the right 
time upon such words. Frequently teachers have a 
kind of false modesty which prevents them from cor- 
recting foreign children in their mistakes; but the 
children and the parents of these children wish them to 
learn the pure and exact pronunciation of all words. 
It is not just to allow them to acquire a false pronun- 
ciation or intonation which they must then carry 
wi$i them thru life in conformity with established 
habits. The following is a sample list of words contain- 
ing, sounds that are difficult for Scandinavian children 
especially ; many of these words and sounds are trouble- 
some to other nationalities also : 



The "y" sounds: 








you 
young 


yoke 
year 


yes 
yellow 


yonde: 


The "j" sounds: 








jury 
jacket 


join 
jump 


joke 
John 


James 
July 


The "th" sounds 








the 
this 


those 
them 


taught 
thru 


tooth 
teeth 





Word Work: 


The Form 




The 


"th" sounds {continued): 








these think 


true 


truth 




that thought 


throat 


rhetoric 


The 


"v" or "w" sounds: 


vote 


wine 




wax vine 


vex 


vinegar 


The 


u g" sounds: gentle 


gentlemen 


The 


"u" sounds: 








University uniform 


unit 



95 



Oral or Written Word Work. — The question is often 
raised as to whether spelling should be oral or written. 
Arguments are given in favor of written spelling to the 
effect that it is the kind used in everyday life; that 
under this practice every child spells every word ; that 
it conduces to neatness in writing words in columns ; 
that it has more definiteness, being put down in black 
and white once and for all. 

In favor of oral spelling it is said that it gives an oppor- 
tunity to secure distinct enunciation and correct pro- 
nunciation; that it is an exhilarating mental exercise, 
and wakes up mind ; that it gives a period for the intro- 
duction of a reasonable amount of rivalry; and that it 
provides a public appearance. 

If we grant that these arguments and others, for and 
against, are valid, the question as to whether we should 
have oral or written spelling would depend, then, upon 
our aim and upon our needs. If the school is one of 
foreign children, where enunciation and pronunciation 
are needed, oral spelling should properly predominate ; 
while if the school is one composed of children whose 
vernacular is the English, probably written spelling 
should predominate. 



96 Fundamentals in Methods 

Rules for Spelling. — Spelling in the English language 
is so lawless, unreasonable, and whimsically conven- 
tional that there are very few serviceable rules. When 
the author was a boy he studied a large word analysis in 
which there were sixteen different rules for spelling, 
and as he remembers it now, only three or four of these 
were ever found to be of any service. The writer is 
inclined to think that the learning or memorizing of more 
than these four rules would be time wasted. In fact, 
doing more than this might bring confusion rather 
than help. There are so many exceptions in English 
spelling that even these four rules are by no means in- 
fallible. One must be continually on his guard in apply- 
ing them ; but they are not difficult and may often come 
to one's rescue in time of need. We suggest that they 
be given consideration and discussion : 

1. " Ei " follows " c " ; " ie," all other letters : e.g. 
receive and grieve. 

2. Drop the final silent " e " before a suffix beginning 
with a vowel, except when needed to keep the "c" and 
" g " soft ; examples : Min(e)ing, serviceable, chang(e)ing, 
changeable. 

Note: "C" and "g" are soft before "e," "i," and "y"; 
and hard before " a," " o," and " u." 

3. Final "y" preceded by a consonant is changed to 
" i " on taking a suffix beginning with any other letter 
than " i " ; lady, ladies ; fly, flying. 

4. Double the final consonant on taking a suffix, 
only when all the following conditions obtain : 

(1) When the word ends in a single consonant, 



Word Work : The Form 97 

(2) When this consonant is preceded by a single 
vowel, 

(3) When the word is accented on the last syllable, 

(4) When the suffix begins with a vowel : e.g. propel, 
propelling ; level, leveling. 

The rules for spelling are formulations of mature 
minds after they have got thru the spelling process. 
No child learns to spell by rules ; he learns by observa- 
tion, repetition, and habit. Consequently, the rules for 
spelling are serviceable only where, in one case out of a 
hundred, we become puzzled over the spelling of certain 
types of words. Too much, then, should not be made 
of rules for spelling. 

Writing Misspelled Words. — It used to be an old 
custom to have a pupil who had misspelled a word, stay 
after school, often as a kind of punishment, and write it 
twenty-five, fifty, or one hundred times, depending upon 
the gravity of the negligence. This, of course, is poor 
psychology and poor pedagogy. In the first place it 
associates punishment with the learning process and 
with the subject of study ; just as with some of the old- 
time teachers, a familiar form of punishment was to 
compel a child to hold out the Bible horizontally at 
arm's length for a certain numbers of minutes. It 
was a device not specially adapted to establishing a 
loving relation between the child and the Book. The 
same may be said of compelling a pupil to write a word a 
hundred times for the double purpose of preventing a rep- 
etition of the negligence and of learning to spell the word. 
It almost invariably happens that he becomes doubly 
negligent and writes the word in a perfunctory, listless, 



98 Fundamentals in Methods 

and slovenly way. If, perchance, a mistake creeps in 
anywhere near the first, this will probably be copied to 
the end. It is repetition without thought and with a 
feeling of aversion to the school, the teacher, and the 
learning process, generally. Instead of making use 
merely of the law of repetition it would be better to 
call the child's attention to the form of the word and to 
throw around it a lot of interesting associations that 
would so engrave it upon his memory that it could not 
be forgotten. If the word were so presented that it 
would become a part of his very self and have a definite 
form he could not forget it. 

Words Often Misspelled. — To awaken interest in 
spelling it would be well for the teacher and the pupils 
to gather a list of common, everyday words that are 
often misspelled. This list should be added to from day 
to day and it would always be a center of interest and 
of attention. We would give the following as a sample : 

1. sieve 15. hyacinth 

2. peaceable 16. chaise 

3. edible 17. surcingle 

4. chronic 18. tassel 

5. chivalry 19. relevant 

6. shrewdness 20. conceit 

7. chasm 21. Israel 

8. nuisance 22. ocular 

9. lynx 23. banana 

10. secede 24. ventilate 

11. supersede 25. battalion 

12. Pharaoh 26. Cincinnati 

13. chamois 27. siege 

14. sycamore 28. sibyl 



Word Work: The Form 



99 



29. Ithaca 

30. Catiline 

31. Apennines 

32. February 

33. abscess 

34. absence 

35. duteous 

36. consensus 

37. lily 

38. census 

39. yacht 

40. privilege 

41. elixir 

42. sherbet 

43. assassin 

44. complexion 

45. vengeance 

46. leopard 

47. crocodile 

48. Pleiades 

49. celery 

50. asparagus 

51. mistletoe 

52. chocolate 

53. alligator 



54. niche 

55. cholera 

56. catarrh 

57. leisure 

58. Pentateuch 

59. bicuspid 

60. gorgeous 

61. orchid 

62. Macaulay 

63. rhinoceros 

64. Xerxes 

65. Bismarck 

66. Manila 

67. Gethsemane 

68. advantageous 

69. Philippine 

70. rarefy 

71. surfeit 

72. Coliseum 

73. pastel 

74. embarrass 

75. gauge 

76. stationery 

77. marriageable 

78. frolicky 



Diacritical Marks. — Attention should be directed, 
to a reasonable extent, to what is called diacritical 
marking. This, of course, was begun in reading during 
the first few months of the pupil's; schooling. It should 
not be forgotten, however, that any system of diacritical 
marks is merely a means and not an end. Such marks 
should be learned and used only when needed, just as 
we use any other tool — only when it is serviceable. 
Diacritical marks are merely for the purpose of indicating, 



ioo Fundamentals in Methods 

to the person who does not know, the sounds of the letters, 
so that he may infer how the syllable is to be enounced 
and hence how the word, as whole, is to be pronounced. 
If the pronunciation is already known by the pupil, 
there is no need of affixing to the word any diacritical 
marks at all ; for if the pronunciation be known, these 
additional marks serve no use whatever. It is to be 
regretted that many teachers impose the whole compli- 
cated diacritical system of marking upon children when 
they already know the pronunciation of the words in 
question. This is making such markings an end rather 
than a means ; and frequently children are thus harassed 
and bewildered by a complicated scheme that serves no 
ulterior or useful purpose. As in everything else, a 
system of diacritical markings should be reduced to its 
lowest terms, and these should be used and required only 
when needed. The child should not be so burdened 
with tools that they are in his way. 

Spelling Reform. — English spelling certainly needs 
to be reformed. Our language is extremely lawless in 
its orthography. There is now on foot a widespread 
movement both in America and in England in favor of 
spelling reform. A few newspapers and magazines have 
adopted a measure of reformed spelling, and many edu- 
cational associations, both state and national, have 
declared themselves in favor of it. As in all move- 
ments, there are extremes on the subject of spelling 
reform. Men of the older type and time, and publish- 
ing houses, as a rule, are averse to any changes ; while 
the radicals are in favor of an extreme in the other 
direction. It is generally admitted that our English 



Word Work: The Form 101 

spelling is a great stumbling block in the education of 
children. It is asserted with much evidence that it 
wastes from one to two years of a child's school life to 
master this complicated, irregular, and merely conven- 
tional system. But men whose habits are formed are 
opposed to any change. It seems too that people are 
less inclined to be progressive in small, non-essential, 
and conventional things than they are in things worth 
while. People will fight, bleed, and almost die for the 
conventional form of a word. It certainly demonstrates 
that Bacon's " idols of the market " are idols, indeed. 
It is to be hoped, however, that the movement will 
spread. All teachers, we think, should advocate a sane 
reform in the golden mean ; and, while some of us may 
not be able to reform our own old habits in this matter, 
our reason tells us that a simplification of English 
spelling would be a boon to the rising and struggling 
generation of children, both native and foreign, who 
are wrestling with the senseless spelling of our language. 



CHAPTER X 

WORD WORK: THE INWARDNESS OF WORDS 

What is most Important. — In the last chapter we 
treated of the outward aspect of words : their form, 
the form of presentation, procedure, etc. ; but the most 
interesting phase of work upon words remains to be dis- 
cussed. This will include their meaning, their his- 
tory, their interesting implications, their structure, 
etc. This is really the phase of word work which is, 
after all, the aim. All of the work previously indicated 
and discussed is merely the means to this end, and yet 
this is the phase which is usually forgotten or neglected. 
This is probably due to the fact that it is the most 
difficult part of that work. The mere outwardness of 
words, their surface and form, are comparatively easy ; 
and hence teachers are too often content with this 
alone. In the old-time method of teaching, this sur- 
face work, this mere whitewashing, was all that was 
attended to. The consequence was, and still is, where 
such a method is in vogue, that pupils never become 
really interested in one of the most fascinating studies 
in the whole curriculum — the study of words. 

For, after all, the aim is to give to pupils a fine sense 
of discrimination in regard to words : a kind of " feel " 
which indicates that the word in its full and accurate 
connotation is grasped. There is probably no better 



Word Work: The Inwardness of Words 103 

indication of education and culture than a person's 
vocabulary and the discrimination with which he uses 
words. Words, as we saw, are the medium thru 
which meaning is apprehended. Words may be used 
either to conceal or to reveal thought ; and with different 
people different degrees of transparency or translucency 
of language are evident. The purpose of words should 
be, of course, to reveal thought and not to conceal it. 

And so, in all school work the teacher should have in 
mind the awakening of an intense interest in the mas- 
tery of words ; and pupils should be enabled to express 
themselves clearly and unambiguously both thru 
the tongue and the hand. 

Slang Words. — Many people are quite poverty- 
stricken in their vocabulary. It should be the purpose 
of the school to start children out and onward so that 
their vocabulary will be continually growing. There 
is a class of words known as "slang" which are paralyz- 
ing to the growth of one's vocabulary. If a person has 
accustomed himself to the constant use of slang, it will 
be impossible for him to express his thoughts in more 
elegant and appropriate words. His ideas have been 
associated with slang expressions so long and frequently, 
that when an idea comes, slang words rush in and no 
others are available. Consequently, in the presence of 
educated, refined, and cultivated people, the person 
addicted to slang must remain silent or else reveal his 
slang habit by expressions which, for their crudity, 
arrest the attention of all. 

It is not the intention to condemn, in toto, the use of 
what is sometimes called slang. Many words now in 



104 Fundamentals in Methods 

good use had their origin in sources similar to those of 
words now known as slang. It is difficult to define 
slang. Some one has said that every word in its origin 
is a poem, and slang words are frequently very expressive 
and picturesque because they bring to mind a very vivid 
and illustrating picture. But a discriminating choice 
should be made in the tolerance which we accord to 
such words. If their origin indicate immoral or debasing 
sources, they should be excluded, and children should 
be induced in every way possible to eliminate them from 
their vocabulary. If their origin, on the other hand, be 
merely one of picturesqueness and vividness, their use 
may be tolerated. 

Abused Words. — Many words in our language are 
much abused and overworked by some people. The 
words fine and lovely, for example, are used upon 
almost every occasion when other words might be 
used with more propriety and discrimination. The 
word splendid is a much-abused and overworked word. 
If we were describing the Aurora Borealis, where flashes 
of light appear alternately in different directions, 
from the horizon to the zenith, and where the whole 
heavens take on a variegated and luminous display, 
the scene might truly be said to be splendid; in other 
places, where, in winter, they build ice palaces and 
where, upon a certain night, the fire king makes his 
attack upon the ice palace and the whole heavens are 
illuminated by a veritable pyrotechnic display of fire- 
works, the scene might be truly described as splendid; 
but, if we should speak of a " splendid dishrag," it would 
be passing from the sublime to the ridiculous ; it would 



Word Work: The Inwardness of Words 105 

be a use of the word splendid, which is anything but 
discriminating. 

How Meanings are Learned. — The meanings of new 
words are gathered by the pupil in different ways : 

In the first place, the meaning of a word may be in- 
ferred from its context ; that is, from the meaning which 
has gone before and comes after. If there is at first a 
blot in our picture on account of an unknown word, by 
some reflection we may be able to glean, gather, or guess 
what the meaning must be from the drift of thought in 
the discussion. 

In the second place, the meaning of a word may be 
gathered by giving the pupil a synonym which he 
already knows. The synonym may not have absolutely 
the same meaning but it will let in upon him a flood 
of light. If billow is explained to a child by giving 
him the word wave, altho the two are not exactly syn- 
onymous, he will have the meaning in its substantial 
fullness. 

In the third place, the meaning of a word may 
be grasped by giving the pupil an antonym; if the 
word deceptive, for example, is defined as not truthful, 
the child is at once enabled to grasp its substantial 
meaning. 

In the last place, the meaning may be gained by logi- 
cal definition. When this method is pursued, the teacher 
must be careful that the pupils understand the definition 
itself. Frequently children learn definitions merely by 
memory without having any clear grasp of their meaning. 
Definitions, consequently, are not sufficient in themselves 
to make sure that a pupil has the meaning when he gives 



106 Fundamentals in Methods 

them. He should be required to put the word in a 
sentence — to use it correctly in more than one relation. 
The aim in all of this work is clearness of understanding, 
and if a pupil can show in any way that he has the 
actual meaning, it should be satisfactory for the purpose 
in hand. When a pupil looked up the word capillary 
and found in the dictionary that it meant a little vessel, 
and then said that Columbus came to the New World in 
three capillaries, the need of further questioning on the 
part of the teacher and of more accurate discrimination 
on the part of the pupil became evident. Another 
boy looked up the word aperture and found that it 
meant an opening. As usual, children are satisfied with 
mere words; and consequently, when he was asked 
to put the word in a sentence he said, " December 
is the aperture of the skating season." A man inquired 
in regard to the meaning of ferment and was told that 
it meant to work. A little later he was heard to remark 
that he believed he would " go out in the garden 
and ferment a while " ! These ludicrous instances 
might be duplicated by any teacher; but they show 
that, to secure clearness and fullness of meaning, a 
teacher should test the pupil in various ways and 
require him to give a clear account of his knowledge. 
Pupils should be able to show that they can use in various 
ways the tool which they have acquired. The test of 
the pudding is always in the eating. 

Word Revelations. — The study of words should be 
intensely interesting. Many words have an attractive 
and indeed fascinating history; they contain within 
themselves wonderful stories ; and any side lights which 



Word Work: The Inwardness of Words 107 

the teacher in her methods may be able to cast upon a 
word will help to illuminate it, to illustrate it, to make 
it interesting. This, like every other subject, will be 
attractive to children, if properly presented. They 
should be led each day into some new corner of verbal 
curiosities. The word-world is a veritable museum, 
every specimen in which is full of literary and historic 
interest. Indeed it may be truly said to be a me- 
nagerie of live verbal species, each one of which has an 
interesting evolutionary series of changes, and many of 
which are genuine " sports." 

Words differ in Interest. — The same kind of work 
should not be done or required upon every word pre- 
sented. Some words are of interest in one way and 
others in another. It would be tedious and monotonous 
to give the etymology of every word. Some words are 
intensely interesting on account of their structure and 
make-up and others on account of the tale which they 
tell. The teacher should seize upon the interesting 
aspect of a word and let the other aspects go, since it is 
impossible to do everything. 

One Sample of an Interesting Phase. — The following 
is a list of words that arrest our attention on account of 
their make-up, and because of their internal implications 
and suggestions. This list might be added to from day 
to day as similar interesting examples occur. One of 
the chief things to be aimed at in the teaching of words 
is a growing curiosity on the part of children in regard 
to them. If a person forms a habit and a desire of look- 
ing into a word, he is on the royal road to mental growth 
in this direction. 



108 Fundamentals in Methods 

don = to do on. 
doff = to do off. 
daisy = the day's eye. 
naught = not aught — not anything, 
curfew = couvre feu — to cover up the fire, 
vinegar = vin aigre — sour wine, 
verdict = ver (true) diet (saying) — a true saying, 
privilege = private law. 

Philip = a lover (phil) of the horse ('ip). 
frankincense = a free burnt offering, 
atone = at one. 
egotist = one for one's self (ego) . 
egoism = a state in which self is prominent, 
egotism = a state in which self is unduly prominent, 
ostracize = to cast out by the shell. (This was the way in 
which Aristides was cast out of Athens — by a 
shell vote.) 
tantalize = to put into the condition of Tantalus. (Have the 

class look up the incident.) 
bayonet = a sword first made in Bayonne. 
laudanum = a thing to be praised ; hence, that which deadens 
pain, 
enthusiasm = a god within, 
stentorian = after the manner of Stentor. (Have the class 
look up the incident.) 
sarcasm = (literally) flesh tearing. 

Meaning of Proper Names. — One of the most inter- 
esting studies is that of names, both surnames and given 
names. Every name had an appropriate origin some- 
where and some time, and hence every person's surname 
has had a history originating in a meaning which was 
applicable to a forefather. While an extensive study 
of names would carry a teacher and her class too far 
afield, some investigation should be made in regard 



Word Work: The Inwardness of Words 109 

to the meaning of the names of the pupils in the class. 
This will arouse their curiosity to push the inquiry 
further. Every exercise of this kind which adds its 
interest to words and names should be encouraged. 

Word Structure. — Words are also interesting on 
account of their structure. There are certain formula- 
tions of words where the root or the stem corresponds 
to the surname of a person and the prefixes and sufhxes 
add the variations. In the teaching of word work the 
class should be given a list of the most common and 
meaningful prefixes and suffixes ; that is, a sufficient 
number of these should be given to awaken the interest 
and arouse the curiosity of the pupils whenever they see 
them. The fist of really important prefixes and suf- 
fixes is not long. It would be bad practice to attempt to 
give all the prefixes and suffixes in the language, or to 
give the impression that all prefixes and suffixes are of 
equal importance. Some of these occur so seldom 
that it is not worth while to learn them at all until we 
meet them, and others occur so frequently that they are 
important tools to have with us at all times. 

Some Important Prefixes and Suffixes. — We venture, 
therefore, to give a short list with examples, of some im- 
portant prefixes and suffixes. These may be learned by 
the pupils in a very short time and thereafter will be in- 
valuable in securing an insight into the meaning of words : 

Prefixes. — 

ante = before ; e.g. ante bellum, before the war. 

anti = against ; e.g. antipodes, those on the other side of the 

earth whose feet are against ours ; that is, we are feet 

to feet. 



no Fundamentals in Methods 

re = back or again : e.g. recede, to go back ; re-read, to read 
again. 

Where it is not known whether this prefix should 
mean back or again, we have to sense the meaning by 
trial. This must be done everywhere in language and 
in life, 
mis = wrong ; e.g. misquoted, wrongly quoted, 
un = not ; e.g. untruthful, not truthful. 
dis = apart ; e.g. dismember, to tear apart, 
pre = before ; e.g. prefix, to put on before. 

The word precocious is interesting for it literally 
means, "cooked too soon." 
pro = forth ; e.g. propel, to drive forth. 

de = down ; e.g. descend, to go down ; depart, to part from. 
Delirious is an interesting word, for it literally means, 
"from one's furrow," or "out of one's furrow." The 
modern and possibly slang expression for this concep- 
tion is, "off one's trolley" — in the modern world the 
street car being responsible for the transfer from the 
furrow to the trolley, 
ad, at, af , an, ac, as = to ; e.g. admit, agree to ; attend, to tend 
to ; affix, to fix to ; annex, to add to ; accede, to go to 
another ; assent, to agree to. 
ab = from ; e.g. abstract, to draw from, 
con, com, co = with, together ; e.g. connect, to join together ; 
comply, to agree with ; cooperate, to work together, 
in = into, upon ; e.g. introduce, to lead into ; insult, (literally) 
to jump upon, 
contra = against ; e.g. contradict, to speak against, 
extra = beyond ; e.g. extraordinary, beyond the ordinary. 

Suffixes. — 

ful = full of ; e.g. truthful, full of truth. 

ly = in a manner, like ; e.g. truly, in a true manner. 

ing = continuing ; e.g. reading, continuing to read. 

ness = state or condition ; e.g. sickness, a state of being sick. 



Word Work : The Inwardness of Words 1 1 1 

er, or (added to a verb) = one who ; e.g. worker, one who works, 
er, or (added to an adjective) = more than ; e.g. richer, more rich, 
let, lot, ling, kin = little ; e.g. ballot, a little ball. 

(People originally voted by dropping little 
balls into a box. This practice is still in vogue.) 
brooklet, a little brook ; 
lambkin, a little lamb. 

(Many proper names contain this suffix: 

Wilkin, little Will ; Perkin, little Peter.) 

ic, y, ous, al = of a nature, like ; e.g. barbaric, of a barbarous 

nature; milky, like milk; vitreous, like glass; 

emotional, of the nature of an emotion. 

ate, fy = to make ; e.g. emancipate, to make free ; liquefy, to 

make liquid, 
able, ible = capable of ; e.g. dutiable, capable of or subject to 

duty ; edible, capable of being eaten, 
tion = act of or condition ; e.g. promotion, act or condition 

of being advanced, 
ize, ise = to make ; e.g. rationalize, to make reasonable ; criti- 
cize, to find fault. 

(According to the reformed spelling the "ise" 
is discontinued where the sound is one of "z.") 
ish = somewhat ; e.g. brownish, somewhat brown. 

Another Interesting Sample. — There is another class 
of words where the interest seems to be in the root or 
stem, and where this is played upon by a prefix or a 
suffix, or where there has been a transfer of meaning, by 
analogy, from one situation to another of a different 
kind. This latter is illustrated, for example, in the 
varied applications of the Latin word, caput. This 
word is taken into the English and with some slight 
incidental variations, owing to its long and tortuous 
course in history, becomes the mother of a whole family 
of words : 



112 Fundamentals in Methods 

From caput, meaning the head: 
i. capital, the head city. 

2. capitol, the head building. 

3. capital (adjective), at the head, excellent. 

4. capital punishment, head or ultimate punishment or 

the punishment which, literally construed, means tak- 
ing off the head. 

5. capital letter, head letter. 

6. c(h)apter, head division. 

7. captain, head of 100 men. 

8. capitulate, to give the headings. 

9. recapitulate, to give the headings again. 

10. capitation tax, tax on the head (poll tax). 

11. decapitate, to cut off the head. 

12. capital, a man's possessions. 

It is difficult to see how the idea of head comes into this situa- 
tion; but when it becomes known that in the pastoral stage of 
the race a man's wealth consisted of the heads of sheep and cattle 
which he owned, it becomes clear ; consequently, the word capital, 
meaning wealth, contains an epitome of the history of our race. 

Samples of Interesting Etymology. — 

From tide, meaning to kill : 

1. homicide, the killing of a human bemg. 

2. fratricide, the killing of a brother. 

3. sororicide, the killing of a sister. 

4. patricide, the killing of a father. 

5. matricide, the killing of a mother. 

6. infanticide, the killing of an infant. 

7. suicide, the killing of self. 

8. regicide, the killing of a king. 

9. uxoricide, the killing of a wife. 

10. germicide, something that kills germs. 

An ingenious advertiser has used the word "fyrecide" as the 
name for a mixture or preparation that is "death on fire." 



Word Work: The Inwardness of Words 113 

From graphy, an account or description : 

1. geography, a description of the earth. 

2. biography, a description of a life. 

3. ethnography, a description of the races. 

4. anthropography, a description of mankind. 

5. physiography, a description of nature. 

Other words, as they come to the notice of the pupils, may be 
added to this list. 

From logy, sl treatise, or scientific discourse : 

1. geology, a treatise of the earth (applied to the crust). 

2. biology, a treatise on life. 

3. ethnology, a treatise on the races. 

4. anthropology, a treatise on man. 

5. physiology, a treatise on human nature in its functioning. 

6. phrenology, a treatise on the skull as indicative (now a 

pseudo science). 

7. terminology, a treatise on terms. 

8. psychology, a treatise on the mind. 

9. theology, a treatise on God. 

10. demonology, a treatise on demons. 

11. zoology, a treatise on animals. 

12. astrology, a treatise on the stars (now a pseudo science). 

13. etymology, a treatise on origins (limited to words). 

14. neurology, a treatise on nerves. 

15. mythology, a treatise on myths. 

16. lithology, a treatise on stones. 

17. conchology, a treatise on shells. 

18. osteology, a treatise on bones. 

Again, this list may be increased as other words 
appear. 

Technical Terms in Word Work. — There are certain 
terms which sooner of later should be learned by the 
pupils. They are not difficult and should be learned 



H4 Fundamentals in Methods 

naturally when the subject presents itself or incidentally 
as other words are learned. At the proper time and 
place they might be made the subject of a recitation, 
and then they could be discussed in full, formulated and 
applied. For example, if the word syllable be made the 
stem or root, we get the following : 

mono-syllable = a word of one syllable, 
dis-sy liable = a word of two syllables, 
tri-syllable = a word of three syllables, 
poly-syllable = a word of many syllables — applied to words of 
more than three syllables. 

The syllables of a word are given names as follows : 

ultimate = the last syllable of a word ; 
penult = next to the last syllable (pen = almost) ; 
ante-penult = the syllable before the penult — third from 
last, 
pre-ante-penult = the syllable before the ante-penult — fourth 
from last. 

Words, according to their composition, or structure, 
are also known as simple, derivative, or compound. A 
simple word is one consisting merely of the root or stem. 
A derivative word is one consisting of the root or stem 
with a prefix or suffix attached. The prefix or suffix 
gives the variation of the idea implied in the root. A 
compound word is one made up of two or more simple 
words. When a compound word is of somewhat new 
and recent origin it contains a hyphen. When it is of 
long standing and well established the hyphen is usually 
dropped. 

Lesson Assignment. — The number of words to be 
assigned for the next lesson in word work will depend 



Word Work : The Inwardness of Words 1 1 5 

upon conditions and circumstances, and will vary ac- 
cording to the maturity and degree of advancement of 
the pupils. It will also vary according to the possibili- 
ties of the words — to their complexity and richness of 
meaning. Consequently, no definite number can be 
assigned as a proper one. It is subserviency to cut-and- 
dried rules that paralyzes good teaching everywhere. 
Sometimes five words, if they are full of richness and 
variation, would be ample. At other times ten or 
fifteen would not be so difficult. It is not the number 
of words that is important, but the interest aroused 
and the fruitfulness of the lesson. 

Sources. — The sources of word work may be many 
and various. A spelling book might be used at least a 
part of the time, to advantage. At other times words 
could well be selected from any and all sources directly 
connected with the life of the pupils. Of course, the 
use of a spelling book minimizes the work of the teacher, 
but if the teacher have ability and time to select the 
words from all other subjects which the pupils are study- 
ing, or from other outside and interesting sources, it 
would, we think, be a better plan. A spelling book, it is 
true, gives defmiteness to the work and the occasion, 
and this means much. If the same definiteness could 
be secured when the words are selected from any and 
all sources connected with the pupils' life it would 
certainly be a better plan. This, however, must be 
left to the teacher. No particular rules on this, any 
more than on any other subject, can be given, which 
should be applied verbatim to the ever-changing situa- 
tions of the schoolroom. 



CHAPTER XI 

WRITING 

With Reading at First. — Writing is implied or in- 
volved in the subject of reading during the primary 
grades. During the period when writing is thus wrapped 
up with reading and treated, in a way, incidentally, the 
primary accent, or emphasis, is placed upon the gleaning 
of thought and the effective expression of it. But during 
this period the subject of writing receives a secondary 
accent and is supplementary to the reading process. 

The Present Status. — But as soon as writing emerges 
and becomes a separate exercise the tendency is to over- 
systematize it. The merely formal exercise of writing 
seems then to be made an end in itself, and in many, 
if not in most schools, it degenerates into a fruitless 
and formal routine. If we visit the average school 
and make a careful examination of the process and of 
the results of the teaching of writing, we shall soon be 
convinced that little if any good is being accomplished. 
If we examine the copy books, we shall frequently find 
that the last line on a page is worse than the first, and 
that the last pages of the copy book are as bad, if not 
worse, than the first pages. This is easily explained when 
we remember that for the child the mere copying of the 
line which precedes is the end and aim of his activity. 
A result follows, similar to that got from the pupil 

116 



Writing 117 

who has been compelled to stay after school and write, 
a hundred times, a word which he has misspelled. The 
whole procedure degenerates into a perfunctory and 
monotonous task. In writing the first line on a page, a 
pupil is likely to do his best, for he writes it with much 
attention, and the copy before him is more nearly per- 
fect. When he writes the second line he is tempted to 
copy what he himself has written before, rather than 
the engraved copy at the head, and so the process of 
degeneration goes on. Mere repetition in writing, as in 
spelling and in reading, if not filled full of thought, feel- 
ing, and effort, is likely to become commonplace and 
barren of results. 

Copy-book Work. — It is customary in the grades 
to devote a period of about fifteen minutes each day to 
the subject of writing in copy books. The period thus 
spent becomes a dull and uninteresting one to the child. 
The teacher does nothing except to criticize adversely 
either the children's movement or their position at the 
desk, and consequently the pupils are always apprehen- 
sive of being adversely criticized. They are not deeply 
interested or indeed interested at all and they do not 
feel that they are doing anything worth while. With 
the copy before them the finger movement is induced 
and a slow, painful copying process is the result. This 
becomes what can more properly be termed drawing 
than writing, for the children, by this slow procedure 
and with the finger movement, attempt to draw the 
letters just as these are made in the copy above. The 
whole period becomes one of drudgery and the children 
always experience a feeling of relief when it is over. 



n8 Fundamentals in Methods 

The teaching of writing by means of copy books has 
been an altogether too prevalent practice. No one 
can become a good writer by means of the copy book 
alone. As its name indicates, it is a copy book, and 
children merely imitate the copy. It puts the pupil 
under constraint, for he has to move slowly and along 
certain grooves ; it defeats the proper movement and 
induces the " slow," and merely " drawing " habit. 
Writing should be more alive and expressive of what is 
within than drawing. Real writing is expression, thru 
the hand, of ideas and thoughts already in the mind, 
the forms of which are as mental as the ideas themselves. 
It is the artistic expression of these forms that is in need 
of cultivation and improvement; and this can be done 
only by the right kind of practice. A boy does not learn 
to catch or play baseball or to skate by merely imitating 
the detailed movements of some one who is a " copy." 
He learns to catch and play by " getting into the game " 
and expressing over and over again the ideas which he 
has. It is a process from within outward. He gets 
some " pointers," it is true, by watching others, but the 
great problem for him is not a lack of knowing what to 
do but of doing it. Writing is like all other arts; it 
must be learned by intelligent doing. As in reading, the 
written forms are only go-betweens, means, or media, and 
should become unconscious and rapid habit. 

Copy Books Made to Sell. — As a rule, copy books cost 
about fifteen cents, and they contain less than two 
cents' worth of paper. They are simply made to sell 
and are not at all essential to the teaching or learning 
of writing — indeed, they are, as we said, a detriment. 



Writing 119 

If writing is a plain and pleasing expression of thought 
in written form, done with ease and rapidity, it is difficult 
to see that copy books are not a real hindrance to the 
whole process. If it be said that copy books furnish the 
ideal letters and real forms which the children are to 
reproduce, it can be replied that the children have al- 
ready, in their minds, forms more perfect and ideal than 
they can possibly express. Children have been develop- 
ing these forms since the first day of their school attend- 
ance. Consequently the child, before he has had any 
systematic teaching of writing, as writing, can invariably 
tell which is the best of several letters. We all have the 
experience of being dissatisfied with certain standard 
forms in our minds. When we see another person make 
a letter which we consider better than our own we are 
inclined to adopt his and to throw our own away. This 
is entirely legitimate and is the way in which children 
develop standard forms which are being built up in 
their minds. Every pupil has in his mind standard 
letters, or ideal forms, by means of which he tests the 
letters which he sees or executes himself. If this is 
true, why should he need another copy external to him, 
upon the page of a copy book? This would seem to 
be a distraction rather than a help, if real writing is 
the expression of what is within the mind. Since he 
has, then, upon his mental tablets the standard forms, 
it is best for him to express these in real writing rather 
than to imitate in mere drawing a copy that is before 
him. It is the monotonous and repetitious expression 
of copies that makes the writing period one of sheer 
drudgery. 



120 Fundamentals in Methods 

Careful Beginnings. — As in learning to operate the 
typewriter or in learning to play the piano, the writ- 
ing habit should be carefully begun and systematically 
and interestingly induced. It should follow the laws 
of habit, as does every other art. The habit of writing 
should be ingrained in the nervous system so that the 
movement will naturally follow. This movement in 
writing should be induced in a proper position, and this 
habit should be cultivated slowly but surely. But while 
the habit is being cultivated the child should be writing 
something that is worth while. In learning to write, 
children should be transcribing something that is of 
value. The transcribing of beautiful gems of poetry 
and of prose from the blackboard into the notebooks 
neatly kept for that purpose, was suggested in the chapter 
on Reading. The ingenious teacher will always find 
subject-matter to work upon. 

Motive. — In the old, copy-book method which we 
have described there is no motive to induce growth 
toward better writing. It frequently happens that chil- 
dren in the eighth grade do not write any better than chil- 
dren in the fourth, altho they have been writing in this 
perfunctory way for several years. Something must 
surely be wrong, and there is here a real problem for in- 
vestigation by every teacher. If there is no fruit from 
a certain method, it should, like the tree spoken of in 
Holy Writ, be cut down and destroyed. It would be 
safe to wager that, if a boy who had been writing for three 
or four years and had made no progress, were told that if 
he should become a reasonably good writer in three 
months he would be taken into a bank and given a good 



Writing 121 

position, he would attain the desired proficiency in this 
art. Here there would be an evident motive, and it 
would be found that " where there is a will there is a 
way." 

But of course such a motive can not be given to every 
child in school. Some motive, however, must be found if 
there is to be improvement. If a person learning to skate 
should find that he could not do so well at the end of an 
hour as when he began, and could not skate so well the 
second or third day as he did the first, the probability 
is that the skates would go into a corner or into the ditch 
by the highway. Where a person does not improve in 
any art which he is attempting to learn, he ceases trying. 
Improvement which will satisfy the mind is probably the 
greatest motive in the minds of the children in learning 
to write. It is, we grant, difficult to plant such a motive, 
for it is the artistic motive ; and real art is difficult for 
children of that age. But there can be simple art — art 
in its elements; and it is this motive of improvement 
that the teacher must avail herself of to secure interest 
and progress. She must inspire children to write better 
and better as the days and weeks go by, or she and her 
pupils will fail to solve the problem of writing. 

An Artistic Writer. — When the author was a boy he 
had a teacher who was an artist at the pen ; and while 
we were out playing at recesses and noons he would 
sit behind his desk with a good supply of plain 
paper, and there he would practice and write to his 
heart's content. His head and his whole body would 
move back and forth in harmony with his arm. He 
evidently felt the thrill of success thru his whole 



122 Fundamentals in Methods 

nervous and muscular systems. Writing, to be real 
writing, must be accompanied sooner or later by this 
nervous and muscular response: there must be the 
physical thrill and mental realization that we are suc- 
ceeding. 

The Teachers Part. — The encouraging approbation 
of the teacher will do much to keep the children on the 
road to success. A word of deserved praise should not 
be withheld. While the teacher should not be given 
to flattery or to indiscriminate commendation, neither 
should she be one of those who never speak the word 
of encouragement, or what is still worse, who never 
comment on a pupil's work except in terms of fault- 
finding. The encouraging word often works wonders. 
The teacher who knows children will avail himself of 
every legitimate motive that can play upon the human 
mind and heart to bring about the desired result. 

Aims. — There are certain aims to be accomplished 
in this whole process and procedure of teaching chil- 
dren the writing art: in the first place, writing, to be 
good, must be legible; that is, all of the letters must 
be capable of being recognized instantly. No letter 
should be, so to speak, ambiguous. Consequently, chil- 
dren should be taught the proper forms, the proper 
mental pictures, of all the letters. If only one good form 
of a letter could be kept before the child's mind until 
he had acquired the art and the habit of executing it, 
all would be well ; but the trouble is, that there has been 
a cross fire of forms and of habits, so that in practice 
the nervous and muscular impulse is inclined to go 
outward in a dozen different ways. 



Writing 123 

When the correct form or mental picture has been 
definitely engraved upon the mental tablets of the 
children, these letters must be combined in such a 
way that the words and the lines will present as a 
whole a neat and symmetrical appearance. It is this 
which makes some people's writing repulsive and the 
writing of others artistic and attractive. 





Look at this picture, and then at this. 

Rapidity also is an aim to be attained in the teaching 
of writing. Some persons can do in one hour what it 
takes others two hours to accomplish ; the consequence 
is that the rapid worker is always in demand and will 
retain a position where the slow worker will fail. So 
it is in writing : a person who turns out a product in 
writing that is legible and neat, and that has been 
secured rapidly, attains the desired end. 

Position and movement are also important. If a 
person were to write only for a few minutes, it would 
make but little difference whether he had done the 
work in any certain position or with any particular 
movement; but if a person were to write continually 
for hours, and if writing is to become, in any sense, his 
vocation, the position and movement are very impor- 
tant, indeed. The habit of writing in a correct posi- 



124 Fundamentals in Methods 

tion will, in the long run, save energy and enable a per- 
son to write for a greater length of time than he other- 
wise could. The movement, too, is important in this 
respect. It would be impossible for a person to write 
for hours and days with the finger movement alone; 
he would become subject to what is called " writer's 
paralysis." Consequently, position and movement are 
for the purpose of physical ease and endurance. This 
is well illustrated in learning to operate a typewriter. 
When one is learning he can undoubtedly secure a greater 
speed by using one ringer only ; but while he would save 
time at the beginning he would lose time all the rest 
of his life. The same is true of writing: a correct 
position and a correct movement are essential, in order 
to save time and energy thru the years to follow. 

Writing a Means, not an End. — In attempting to 
learn from a copy book and by mere writing exercises, 
as we see them everywhere in school life, the writing 
seems to be merely for the sake of writing ; this, at least, 
is the impression that the children get. For the real 
artist with the pen this might be an end in itself, but 
for children and for ordinary people, writing is a means 
and not an end. If mere writing is made the end, it 
becomes drudgery. In manual training, the making 
and fitting joints, by the day and week, merely for 
the sake of making and fitting joints, is deadening; 
and in instrumental music the practicing of scales over 
and over again without ever being allowed to play a 
tune is discouraging. The processes become monoto- 
nous and repellent. The boy wishes to be making some- 
thing at the bench, and the girl to be playing something 



Writing 125 

at the piano. So it is in writing: if children were 
given something worth writing and told that it would 
be necessary, or at least most desirable, to have this 
subject-matter written up in neat and legible form, they 
would have something worth while to work for — some 
end in view. There would then be some fruitage from 
the process; but where there is no fruit, as in every 
other case, the process of writing becomes monotonous 
and repellent. 

Systems of Writing. — Too much stress has been laid 
upon the various systems of writing. We have had many 
of them, to the confusion of the children and the teach- 
ers in our schools. As in the teaching of reading, some 
small phase or issue in the whole process is often seized 
upon by some one highly susceptible to one idea, who 
wishes to exploit himself and his work, and so he puts 
forth what is called a " new system." From a psycho- 
logical point of view there is no new continent to be dis- 
covered in habit formation, and consequently none in 
the teaching of writing. We have faddists without num- 
ber in the pedagogical field, and we have likewise had 
them in the teaching of writing. The question of slant, 
even, has been made the basis of systems of writing. 
Too much, altogether, has been made of mere method or 
rather of devices, misnamed methods. A part has been 
taken for the whole ; mountains have been made out of 
molehills ; and pupils and teachers have been exploited 
by enterprising adventurers for their own enrichment. 

Analysis of Letters. — The analysis of letters into 
their so-called " principles " is a delusion and a snare. 
This is " ultimate analysis " with a vengeance. It 



126 Fundamentals in Methods 

makes pupils so self-conscious and so conscious of details 
that it is death to the writing process. It is similar to 
the analyzing of our own movements in walking, in order 
to learn how to walk, or of our own movements in eating, 
in order to learn how to eat. A few simple observations 
on the relative heights or sizes of letters is all that is 
needed. A methodology of the minute details in the 
procedure of most arts too frequently results in what 
might be termed the hysterics of the problem. Writing 
is simply an art that has its roots in observation, imita- 
tion, and in habit rightly begun and directed. 

Slants. — The slant in writing is quite immaterial. 
If a person has acquired, by habit, a proper position 
and a proper movement, and if he expresses his writing 
in legible and symmetrical form and with reasonable 
rapidity, the slant is a mere incident. Every person 
should be allowed, under some restriction in the interest 
of later efficiency, whatever slant suits him best. Our 
hands are not at all made alike and it makes little differ- 
ence whether the slant is one of fifty-two degrees, or 
twenty-five degrees, or vertical. The writer once knew 
a young man employed in a railroad office, who said 
that when he grew tired writing in one slant he fell into 
the habit, in order to rest himself, of pulling his pen 
instead of pushing it; and he could write a backhand 
that was a delight to see. While we should not recom- 
mend, for various reasons, the teaching of backhand, 
it is quite immaterial what individual slant a person 
practices, provided the great aims of writing, which we 
have enumerated, are attained. The chief trouble with 
the backhand is that letters become ambiguous. 



Writing 127 

The Children Suffer. — Children everywhere have 
been subjected to these different systems of writing. 
The consequence is that they have had some partially 
formed habits broken up and destroyed by other habits 
induced later. They thus become the prey of different 
and conflicting habits. This, of course, is ruinous to 
the rapid and accurate expression of our mental pictures 
in any stable form. These pictures have been overlaid 
by others or broken up and blurred : the picture forms 
have mixed and mingled. It would be better to allow 
each individual child to produce or to express, in his 
own individuality, the forms which he has gathered from 
all possible sources, and improved by comparison from 
day to day in school, provided his writing be legible, 
symmetrical, and reasonably rapid, and executed in a 
fairly good position and movement. Sooner or later 
he will, in any event, form his own system, regardless 
of those that have been taught him. It would be much 
better to allow him to become habituated in a definite 
way to his own methods and his own forms. There 
should be room for freedom, for there are infinite varia- 
tions of excellent forms of writing. 

Much Note Taking and Haste. — Too much note 
taking in schools and colleges has been responsible for 
spoiling the handwriting of many. Students are com- 
pelled under stress and strain to follow a lecturer, and so 
the habit of partial expression is formed. Too much 
rapidity compels slovenliness and inaccuracy, for in 
such cases the hand can not follow as fast as the mind 
proceeds. Haste on the part of teachers and pupils 
is responsible for much poor writing. The rapid worker 



128 Fundamentals in Methods 

is likely to become a poor writer, for his mind travels 
faster than his hand can follow. This induces various 
kinds of short-cut movements which, expressed in 
letters, produce an illegible hand. If elementary teachers 
would practice what they preach, they should put work 
on the blackboard in such form as to excite the admira- 
tion of the pupils. Beautiful blackboard work is not 
time lost : haste makes waste. 

In Adolescence. — The period of adolescence is one of 
disturbances in writing, as it is in mind and body gen- 
erally. Children who have become fairly good writers 
prior to the age of twelve to fourteen, frequently become 
poor writers all at once, to the great concern of parents 
and teachers. Many boys and girls have to re-learn 
in part the writing art from this period on. The nervous 
and muscular systems, as well as the mind, undergo 
somewhat of a revolution, and this is manifest in a 
person's expression in writing. Too much anxiety 
should not be felt at this occurrence; but it requires 
careful and sympathetic teaching to tide over the dis- 
turbing time. The new habits, or rather the old habits 
which have been somewhat broken up, can be induced 
much more rapidly than at first formed. 

Can a Poor Writer Teach Writing ? — In order to be a 
successful teacher of writing one should be able to write 
fairly well himself. It is often claimed that a person 
can teach what he does not know or can not do, for 
teaching is only causing or inducing another to learn. 
It is true that a teacher sometimes does a thing so well 
that pupils become discouraged and give up attempting 
to do it at all ; and so it frequently happens that one who 



Writing 129 

does not know so much or can not do so well as another 
can, by a kind of rivalry, induce other people to put forth 
greater efforts. But probably the truth will be found 
here as elsewhere in a golden mean. It is undoubtedly 
true that a teacher who can step to a board and illustrate 
fairly well what is in his mind can best induce others to 
do likewise. Imitation is a power in writing as it is every- 
where else. Children even imitate the voice of a teacher. 
Voice brings forth voice after its kind. The writer once 
knew a primary teacher whose voice was keyed to a high 
pitch all day long, and inside of two weeks all of the 
little children spoke in the same high-keyed voice. 
Similarly, the teacher who writes well, either upon the 
blackboard or upon paper, can best elicit a similar ac- 
tivity and a like result in his pupils. 



CHAPTER XII 

LANGUAGE WORK: ELEMENTARY 

The Home. — The home, or the nursery, is the chief 
agency in the teaching of language. Habits of expres- 
sion formed in childhood are likely to remain with us 
thru life. The influences of our childhood and youth 
are always potent factors in establishing habits of 
expression. It is on this account that slang words and 
crude colloquial expressions become abiding possessions. 
They have been so often and so long welcomed under our 
roof that they refuse to leave, and then we are no longer 
masters in our own houses. Fortunate, indeed, from 
a linguistic as well as from other points of view, 
is the child who has been brought up in a home where 
good language is used; and extremely unfortunate is 
the child who has been born into and brought up in a 
home where the language is abused and mutilated. 
Such a child then has on hand the fight of his life thru 
all his future years. He may later inherit his millions 
but his language will reveal his culture. It is this situa- 
tion which gives rise to the contrast between persons 
of real education and culture and those known as the 
nouveaux riches. 

The School. — The school, from a language point of 
view, is an agency secondary only to the home and 
companions. Where the linguistic habits established 

130 



Language Work: Elementary 131 

in childhood are of a detrimental character it is extremely 
difficult for a school to counteract them and do its work 
well. The school takes hold of the child after his lan- 
guage habits have become quite firmly established, and 
consequently the school or even the college should not 
be blamed entirely for its failure to turn out graduates 
who use the language with accuracy and facility. The 
school can not do everything. It can, however, do much 
in the way of teaching not only a knowledge of language 
but the art of expression. 

United with Other Subjects. — Language work is, like 
word work and writing, wrapped up with reading during 
the primary period. In fact, reading, spelling, and 
writing are only parts of language work proper; for 
the expression of any subject is essentially language 
work. Reading must have a proper form; spelling is 
merely getting the proper form of symbols which denote 
ideas ; writing must have, as we saw, the correct form in 
order to be good writing ; number work must also have 
its correct form in all operations and problems. Every 
subject of study, in fact, has an appropriate content 
and a proper form ; and this form is essentially language 
work. Consequently, language is connected with every 
subject studied and should receive its due attention in 
every recitation period during the day. The form is 
secondary only to the content. No lesson or recitation 
should be accepted as satisfactory by the teacher unless 
it is delivered in proper form by the pupil. 

No Separate Period. — It is difficult to see, from a 
logical and psychological point of view, why there should 
be a separate period for language study as such. The 



132 Fundamentals in Methods 

language, or the form, is always a means to the end. 
The end is the correct thinking of the subject-matter. 
The language is the means of expressing or presenting 
this matter. Consequently, in every subject of study, 
attention to language should be a close second to the 
content itself. If there be a separate period for lan- 
guage study as such, it is likely to become so formal 
that it will lack content, and hence grow uninteresting, 
perfunctory, and monotonous. There would seem to 
be a sufficient number of occasions to teach correct 
language in connection with other subjects. Most 
subjects lend themselves admirably to both oral and 
written recitation. 

Oral and Written Speech. — In fact, teachers should 
see to it that these two habits of oral and written ex- 
pression should be sedulously cultivated. Neither one 
should be neglected, tho there is a strong tendency 
always to move along the line of least resistance. When 
this happens, pupils form one habit only, and are entirely 
unable to express themselves in the other direction. 
There are some people who can speak very fluently 
but who could not be driven to write anything. They 
have formed the talking habit and not the writing 
habit. They have been accustomed to let their thoughts 
flow out over the nervous pathway leading to the vocal 
organs ; while no way for the expression of thought by 
the hand has ever been opened up. On the contrary, 
there are others who have formed the habit of writing, 
and who can not, under any circumstances, express 
themselves orally, on their feet, before a public audience. 
Many preachers and public orators fall into the habit 



Language Work: Elementary 133 

of oral speech and never put anything down in black 
and white. On the other hand, Thomas Jefferson, one of 
the greatest writers of his day, could, under no circum- 
stances, give an oral address. Both of these habits 
should be cultivated and ingrained in pupils' lives 
during the school age. Bacon said that " reading 
maketh a full man ; writing, an exact man ; conference, 
a ready man." By conference he meant oral discussion. 
There is nothing that induces accuracy of thought so 
much as being compelled to express ourselves in black 
and white and thus be compelled to meet our embodied 
thoughts face to face. Those who speak much and 
never write are likely to become eloquently platitudinous 
or platitudinously eloquent, but not exact. 

A Written Recitation. — The writer once had the 
experience of teaching a class in United States history 
in the eighth grade. At the first recitation period, 
after a definite lesson had been assigned, he gave each 
pupil a topic which had been discussed in the text, and 
asked him to pass to the blackboard and to write all 
he could upon the topic assigned him. The total black- 
board space was divided among the class, each taking 
about four feet in width. The members of the class 
looked somewhat amazed and then glanced at each 
other, wondering what to do. Two or three gave up 
altogether and went to their seats. Two or three more 
wrote a few straggling, almost meaningless sentences; 
others could express themselves only to a small extent. 
One or two did fairly well, covering about a fourth or 
a third of the space assigned them. The writer came 
to the conclusion at once that the class needed to form 



134 Fundamentals in Methods 

the habit of written expression, and hence continued 
the plan of written recitation for some time. Each 
day showed a marked improvement, and at the end of 
two weeks our blackboard space was not sufficient. 

Growth of Compositional Power. — The last para- 
graph illustrates how the compositional power of a child 
will grow ; like all habits it is capable of rapid develop- 
ment. This is one of the chief purposes of language 
work: to induce children to express themselves with 
reasonable accuracy and fluency, either in speech or in 
writing. The power of composition is very limited at 
first but may grow rapidly, day by day. To a little 
child one or two small sentences is a story ; but as more 
thoughts come to him and as he expresses these additional 
thoughts, his story grows in length. The habit of writing 
may later become a pleasure. It is said that in one in- 
stance, under pressure of his publisher, Marion Craw- 
ford wrote seven thousand words a day for six consecutive 
days. Herbert Spencer averaged five hundred words a 
day during his writing period. The habit of writing, or 
composing, tends to grow into such a liking, or desire, for 
it that writers, on a vacation, begin to feel an inward 
impulsion, a kind of " hankering " to express what is 
gathering and taking form in their minds. They feel as 
tho there is something in their system which they 
must render outer, or express. If pupils can be induced 
to form and to travel the habitual pathways of oral and 
written expression until they begin to like the feel of it, 
the school has won out in its aim — for this is the highest 
aim of language work. This, however, is the promised 
land into which few teachers lead their pupils. Both too 



Language Work: Elementary 135 

frequently become lost in the underbrush and swamps of 
miasmatic rules and details which lie between. 

The Silent Pupil. — Sometimes teachers have in their 
schools the self-conscious, silent, bashful pupil. It seems 
almost impossible to elicit from him any expression, either 
oral or written. Such a pupil should be treated kindly 
and not severely. His power of expression should be 
slowly and carefully cultivated and elicited, for it can 
not be forced. A word of commendation should be given 
upon the slightest effort on his part. The trouble is not 
with his will but with his stage in life, his nervous system, 
his old habits. Habits of expression, however, will grow 
under proper encouragement and will soon come to flower 
and fruit. The teacher in such cases should understand 
the nature of the child and the proper mode of encourage- 
ment and treatment. 

Not too much Interference. — Language, as we said, 
is the form of every subject taught by the teacher or 
presented in recitation by the pupil. It must, conse- 
quently, be taught in connection with every subject; 
but since the content in each subject is the primary aim, 
too much stress should not be placed upon the form while 
the children are wrestling with the thought and doing 
their best to present it. If too many adverse corrections 
and criticisms are passed upon the form, it becomes a dis- 
turbing element and the child becomes fearful and diffi- 
dent. The pupils should be allowed free rein to deliver 
the message in as good form as possible. Then, if there 
are mistakes, either oral or written, kindly attention 
should be called to them and suggestions for their cor- 
rection fittingly impressed. These corrections should 



136 Fundamentals in Methods 

always be given in an encouraging and eliciting spirit 
rather than in a spirit of repression and faultfinding. 
Education everywhere and in every subject prospers 
under encouragement only and is always paralyzed by 
adverse criticism. 

The Best only, Acceptable. — In every subject which 
the pupils are studying they should be induced to offer 
their best only. It frequently happens that pupils are 
allowed to hand in to their teacher a product which is in 
very poor form and which gives evidence of very careless 
preparation and of slovenly habits. Pupils should be 
taught that if anything can be corrected by themselves 
such corrections should be made before the matter is 
handed in. It is neither polite nor moral for a pupil to 
deliver a product which is a disgrace to him. But the 
good teacher will see to it that a pupil's best efforts are 
induced or elicited by suggestion, rather than compelled 
thru fear or scolding. So long as pupils hand in written 
recitations that are not their best they are not being 
truly educated. In all such situations it would be better 
to require pupils to do one half as much and to do it well 
and to the best of their ability, than to require double 
the amount and then accept it " half-baked." Quality 
is a greater factor than quantity in education. 

The Inductive Procedure. — Oral language is learned 
in childhood by observation and imitation, in an induc- 
tive rather than in a deductive manner. Language as 
taught and learned in school should follow the same order. 
Rules are formulated later and express similarities, 
observed by mature minds; but children do not learn 
correct language either in the home or in the school by 



Language Work: Elementary 137 

rule; they learn it thru individual instances and 
thru using the language itself as they hear it or see 
it used by others. We all learn to speak by speaking 
and to write by writing, to a great extent. Teaching 
language work to children by the use of rules is inverting 
the proper method; it is beginning at the point which 
the mature and adult mind has reached and working 
backward. No one has ever learned language of any 
kind by rule. Rules come last and are the product of 
study and reflection by those who have arrived at the 
end of the road. Language in all its phases should be 
taught to children where the children are. The processes 
of language teaching should follow the natural order in 
which language was at first learned. As soon as children 
see similarities in a multitude of instances, they are able 
then to appreciate and realize the rule, but not until 
then. The rule is of use scientifically, or theoretically, 
but not practically. 

The Criterion of Good Language. — The standard, or 
criterion, of correct English does not depend upon rules 
but upon the usage of the best writers and speakers. It 
is not the dictum of the grammar or the dictionary which 
decides what is correct or incorrect. These merely re- 
cord what authorities assert to be the best usage. Con- 
sequently, in the teaching of language the ultimate 
criterion is good usage. The reason that should be given 
to children as to why certain expressions are right is 
that such is the way educated and cultured people ex- 
press themselves. 

Capitalization and Punctuation. — Capitalization and 
punctuation should be taught to children in every subject 



138 Fundamentals in Methods 

of study by examples and imitation rather than by rules. 
Every device which a teacher may be able to use in 
particular instances is allowable. Punctuation, it is 
true, is a difficult subject, and the same selection would 
be punctuated differently by several educated people; 
but this only shows that there is much freedom in the 
matter of punctuation, provided the sense be preserved. 
Children should always be taught, also, to capitalize 
and punctuate as they proceed when writing. It is 
not good practice to write on hurriedly and omittingly 
to the end and then to go back and cross our t's and 
dot our i's, capitalize and punctuate. All of this should 
be attended to as we proceed ; we should finish, as far 
as possible, as we go. 

Backbone Words. — Children should be taught early, 
not by rule but by actual cases, the proper use of 
is and are, was and were, done and did, has and have, 
and such words as form, in a way, the backbone of 
language expression, and which occur almost every in- 
stant. Of course if a child has learned the correct 
use of all such words at home, this will be an easy 
task ; but it will add some enrichment to his language 
consciousness to make him see that one word is used 
when only one person or thing is concerned and that 
another word, or verb, is used when two or more are 
under consideration. Any device or exercise that would 
arouse interest and something of a contest in this field 
without leading to impolite seriousness in school and 
at home might very appropriately be employed. 

The Tabooed List. — It is often said that we should 
never present incorrect forms to children. This is one 



Language Work: Elementary 139 

of those rules which we often hear and which are fre- 
quently applied outside of their intended sphere. Such 
a rule is probably good for children who have always 
had in mind the correct form only. Then, the incorrect 
form might become an open switch. But if children 
have been accustomed to incorrect expressions rather 
than to correct ones, there is nothing wrong in present- 
ing the incorrect form and calling special attention to 
it, as a warning, impressing its wrongness and showing 
children the correct form which should take its place. 
It must be said that most children are more or less 
inoculated if not seriously infected with a variety of 
incorrect expressions that are current everywhere. In 
fact, many of them are in altogether too common use 
among high school and even college graduates. Con- 
sequently, it would be well, in the teaching of language, 
to place upon the blackboard for a short time what 
might be called " the tabooed list." Children should 
then be induced to avoid such expressions and to see 
who could most successfully free himself from them. 
There is, we think, no danger in such a process, in the 
way of imitation rather than of avoidance. The fol- 
lowing are some expressions in common use upon the 
street, upon the country road, and among children 
everywhere — even in the best homes and families. 
This list might be added to by the teacher or the pupils 
as the interest of the class grows. 

(1) It was a long ways off. 

(2) He don't know nothing about it. 

(3) He had went at that time. 

(4) I seen him yesterday. 



140 Fundamentals in Methods 

(5) He done that easily. 

(6) He learned me to write. 

(7) He felt badly about it. 

(8) Everybody gave their consent. 

(9) He told John and I about it. 
(10) Give me them books. 

(n) He didn't do nothing. 

(12) Who did you give it to? 

(13) That is not made like this is. 

(14) There ain't no such thing. 

Occasions for Language Teaching. — There are many 
occasions and various means for the teaching of lan- 
guage. We shall mention only a few, leaving the others 
to the resources and ingenuity of the teacher and to 
the interest manifested by the pupils. 

The Recitation — Oral and Written. — Every recita- 
tion, whether oral or written, is a means of teaching 
language ; it is a language exercise ; the pupil expresses 
his thoughts upon the subject in hand, in speech or in 
writing. Both of these methods of recitation should be 
employed. The teacher and the school should not fall 
into the habit of one to the exclusion or neglect of the 
other. It is true that oral recitation may be easier. If 
so, the written method is likely to be neglected, and 
against such neglect teachers should be on their guard. 
The rule has frequently been given that pupils in oral 
recitation should always answer in full and complete 
sentences. This, like all rules, may be either good or 
bad. It is, however, only a half truth. In some sub- 
jects and on some occasions it is a good rule ; in other 
subjects and on other occasions the practice might be a 
woeful waste of time and needless repetition. The 



Language Work: Elementary 141 

trouble with rules is 1 - that they may be applied by teachers 
who do not think things out for themselves, but who are 
parrot-like in their imitation, and apply a rule to in- 
stances for which it was never intended. To answer 
in full sentences questions in arithmetic, for example, 
where the answer could well be one word, would be 
useless and monotonous; especially when the child has 
already mastered that form of answer. There being no 
danger of his slipping here, insisting that he repeat 
these answers in full sentences is a waste of time and 
effort with nothing gained. In other places it might 
be a good form of language drill to have it understood 
that the pupil give his answers in full and complete 
sentences. The discerning teacher will know where and 
when to require or dispense with this practice. 

Reproduction of a Story. — Another means of language 
training may be found in the reading or the telling by 
the teacher of an interesting story, and then having the 
children reproduce it. It should be said, however, that 
either in recitation or in reproducing, the children should 
not understand that they are doing this merely for the 
sake of doing it. In fact, the end and aim of all these 
processes should be kept from the children. The highest 
art is to conceal art. If the teacher should tell the 
pupils that they are to reproduce a story merely to see 
how well they can do it, the effect would be bad. Noth- 
ing should be said about the teacher's aim. Pupils 
should have a consciousness that they are doing some- 
thing worth while, that they are not being used for a 
purpose — the absolute truth if the pupils are not given 
the teacher's point of view. 



144 Fundamentals in Methods 

telling the pupils to write a composition upon " The 
Dog," or " The Cow/' or " Water/ 5 or some such sub- 
ject without any discussion of it, should be avoided. If 
the pupils are merely assigned a subject and if their 
thoughts in regard to it are not organized, the composi- 
tion will consist of commonplace, meaningless expres- 
sions. A pupil will start out by saying : " The cow is 
a very useful animal. She has two horns/' etc. Now, 
let us take, for example, a subject like " How to build a 
Fire." If we remarked to the class that there are very 
few people who know how to build a fire properly in a 
wood stove, their interest would be aroused. Then if 
we should divide the whole question into three parts, 
considering, under the first, the preparation of the 
stove (the arrangement of dampers, the cleaning out 
of the ashes, etc.), and the getting ready of the materials 
(such as paper or shavings and then the finer sticks and 
the coarser materials) ; under the second, the arrange- 
ment of these materials in the stove, giving reasons for 
such arrangement ; and under the third, the precautions 
which should be observed in regard to the dampers, 
the using of kerosene oil, the turning of the drafts after 
the fire is started, etc., — -we should have a plan for a 
composition consisting of three paragraphs. 

Paragraphing. — This would be a good occasion for 
the teaching of paragraphing. The class should be told 
that in the first paragraph they should bring together 
all their thought in regard to the preparation of the 
stove and the material. In the second paragraph they 
should place in consecutive order, as they come to them, 
all their thoughts upon the placing of the materials in a 



Language Work: Elementary 145 

particular way in the stove. In the third paragraph 
would come all of the precautions and care which should 
be observed. The pupils should be taught that in 
writing the first draft of [their compositions they should 
leave a little vacant space between the different para- 
graphs so that if any appropriate thoughts should come 
to their minds later they could put them in their proper 
places ; for thoughts or sentences which properly belong 
in the first paragraph should not be put in the second or 
third, and those which properly belong in the second 
should not be put in the first or third. The teacher 
should not insist on a composition that would be too 
long. After they have made the first draft and properly 
arranged all of their thoughts, the composition should 
then be rewritten in the best possible form and handed 
in. A composition on this subject of, say, four hundred 
or five hundred words, done in an artistic manner, would 
be worth incomparably more than merely assigning a 
subject and allowing the pupils to go about it as they 
pleased. One can not pump water from a dry well and 
children can not write thoughts if they have not yet 
secured them or learned how to arrange them in order. 
Correction by Marginal Signs. — Corrections by mar- 
ginal signs interest pupils very much. This is, too, the 
method of correction used by proof readers and connects 
school work in a practical manner with real life. The 
following are the chief signs used to indicate such cor- 
rections : 

A is the caret, and indicates an omission. 

8 (dele) is the mark meaning destroy, and is placed in the margin. 

I.e. means "lower case," or small letters. 

L 



144 Fundamentals in Methods 

telling the pupils to write a composition upon " The 
Dog," or " The Cow," or " Water," or some such sub- 
ject without any discussion of it, should be avoided. If 
the pupils are merely assigned a subject and if their 
thoughts in regard to it are not organized, the composi- 
tion will consist of commonplace, meaningless expres- 
sions. A pupil will start out by saying : " The cow is 
a very useful animal. She has two horns," etc. Now, 
let us take, for example, a subject like " How to build a 
Fire." If we remarked to the class that there are very 
few people who know how to build a fire properly in a 
wood stove, their interest would be aroused. Then if 
we should divide the whole question into three parts, 
considering, under the first, the preparation of the 
stove (the arrangement of dampers, the cleaning out 
of the ashes, etc.), and the getting ready of the materials 
(such as paper or shavings and then the finer sticks and 
the coarser materials) ; under the second, the arrange- 
ment of these materials in the stove, giving reasons for 
such arrangement ; and under the third, the precautions 
which should be observed in regard to the dampers, 
the using of kerosene oil, the turning of the drafts after 
the fire is started, etc., — we should have a plan for a 
composition consisting of three paragraphs. 

Paragraphing. — This would be a good occasion for 
the teaching of paragraphing. The class should be told 
that in the first paragraph they should bring together 
all their thought in regard to the preparation of the 
stove and the material. In the second paragraph they 
should place in consecutive order, as they come to them, 
all their thoughts upon the placing of the materials in a 



<«■ 



Language Work: Elementary 145 

particular way in the stove. In the third paragraph 
would come all of the precautions and care which should 
be observed. The pupils should be taught that in 
writing the first draft of [their compositions they should 
leave a little vacant space between the different para- 
graphs so that if any appropriate thoughts should come 
to their minds later they could put them in their proper 
places ; for thoughts or sentences which properly belong 
in the first paragraph should not be put in the second or 
third, and those which properly belong in the second 
should not be put in the first or third. The teacher 
should not insist on a composition that would be too 
long. After they have made the first draft and properly 
arranged all of their thoughts, the composition should 
then be rewritten in the best possible form and handed 
in. A composition on this subject of, say, four hundred 
or five hundred words, done in an artistic manner, would 
be worth incomparably more than merely assigning a 
subject and allowing the pupils to go about it as they 
pleased. One can not pump water from a dry well and 
children can not write thoughts if they have not yet 
secured them or learned how to arrange them in order. 
Correction by Marginal Signs. — Corrections by mar- 
ginal signs interest pupils very much. This is, too, the 
method of correction used by proof readers and connects 
school work in a practical manner with real life. The 
following are the chief signs used to indicate such cor- 
rections : 

A is the caret, and indicates an omission. 

8 (dele) is the mark meaning destroy, and is placed in the margin. 

I.e. means "lower case," or small letters. 



146 Fundamentals in Methods 

Cap. or = means capitalize. 
tr. or Co means transpose. 

stet means let it stand, being the reverse of a correction, or a cor- 
rection countermanded. 

As an illustration of the use of the foregoing we would 
give the following : 

^ A ^ne ship drives east and another west o<x^* 

With the self -same winds that blow. 
\2/ A Tis the set of the sails A not the gales <vr«L/ 

That sends us the way we go. 

^ A Like the winds of the sea are the waves of FATE C.c. 
*"\^ As we journey^ru\ along life. 
\£s A Tis the set of the soul that decides the goal 

And not the calm or the strife, -fefeat; A £* v ^ / 

Dictation. — An interesting and profitable exercise which 
the teacher might employ in language work is the dic- 
tation of short selections or of sentences to be written 
correctly by the pupils and handed in by them in the best 
possible form. Not many people can dictate distinctly 
and with the proper measure of time so as to allow the 
writer to take down the product accurately. The correct 
habit of copying after the dictation of another is one that 
should be taught. Many pupils copy by what might 
be termed the word process ; that is, they hear only one 
word at a time and then write it down, after the word 
method. Others hear a whole sentence and then, after 
getting the thought and the form, proceed to write it 
as a sentence. This is better than the word process. 
The teacher in dictating and the pupils in listening should 
become so accustomed to each other that there will be 



Language Work: Elementary 147 

harmony of action. This measured rate of dictation 
induces proper pronunciation and distinct enunciation 
on the part of the teacher and also a keener discrimina- 
tion, by the sense of hearing, on the part of the pupils. 
As a sample of sentences that might be dictated we 
would give the following : 

(1) There's one left in that box of theirs. 

(2) I, too, wish to get two books. 

(3) Don't fail to dot your i's and cross your 2's. 

(4) Three 2's and two 3's equal twelve. 

(5) "'Twas ever thus from childhood's hour 
I've seen my fondest hopes decay." 

(6) The plus's and minus's were omitted. 

The discussion following such exercises as this should 
be such as to clinch, for all time, the knowledge of the 
proper form in regard to all the points discussed. Little 
is gained if a pupil learns in one lesson that symbols 
are made plural by an apostrophe, and in the very next 
lesson proceeds to make mistakes in regard to them. 
In such cases language goes in one ear and out the other. 
Nails are driven and not clinched. Such knowledge is 
merely stuck on and has not sent its roots into the mind ; 
it is not growing there ; it is dead. Knowledge of this 
kind counts for nothing, and is all too prevalent in schools 
everywhere. Again we would say that a little well done 
should be the ideal. 

The Hearing Needs Training. — One of the greatest 
defects among children is that they do not hear well. 
They do not hear, not because there is any defect in 
the organ but because they have not been taught to dis- 
criminate keenly what they do hear. If the teacher 



148 Fundamentals in Methods 

should make certain announcements as plainly as it is 
possible to make them, some one or several would later 
make inquiries in regard to the very thing announced : 
it merely shows that they do not hear well. 

The Typewriter. — One of the best methods of teaching 
language would be by the use of the typewriter. It 
would be a good thing if all children should be required 
in school to learn to operate the typewriter according 
to scientific principles and with good movement habits. 
It would conduce to clearer knowledge in regard to capi- 
talization, punctuation, spelling, and paragraphing. 
It is obscurity and slovenliness of form that indicate, if 
they do not induce, indenniteness and slovenliness of 
thought. There is scarcely anything that so brings a 
pupil to a realization of his merits and demerits as to 
be compelled to face his product in what is equivalent 
to the printed form. In typewriting and in print every- 
thing stands out clearly and every mistake is evident. 
It would face the pupil and the pupil would have to face 
it. It would conduce to honesty and would not allow 
of " blurring. " It is not so easy to dot an " e " when 
one does not know whether an " e " or an " i " should be 
used ! 

The Idea of Quantity too Prevalent. — In the present 
teaching of English, pupils and students are required 
to do three or four times as much work in quantity as 
is productive of any value whatever. Teachers seem to 
think that in order to keep the students busy and in 
order to establish a record of not being " easy," they must 
pile work mountains high upon students. Many of these 
essays demanded of students are never read carefully 



Language Work: Elementary 149 

and criticized helpfully. If a quarter of the quantity 
were required, and that in typewritten form, it would be 
incomparably easier for the teacher and better for the 
pupil or student. Of course the school should furnish 
typewriting facilities and opportunities. But no science 
teacher would think of teaching chemistry or physics 
without a laboratory and a full equipment of apparatus. 
Neither should it be required of teachers of English to 
do their work without the apparatus wherewith to do it 
well. 

A Textbook in Language. — In conclusion, the ques- 
tion may be raised as to when, if at all, a textbook on 
language work should be used or required. As in 
reading, we believe that a textbook on language is of 
value merely as a source book. It may save the teacher 
much labor in gathering material or in suggesting 
directions — in a word, in the way of method. But we 
are inclined to think that the better teachers would prefer 
to teach language as they teach morals, upon any and 
all occasions that may offer themselves during the course 
of the day, or in connection with other subjects. If a 
textbook be used, language work tends to become merely 
formal ; to the pupil it then becomes the end instead of 
a means. This inevitably leads to the result that pupils 
lose interest in the subject ; for whenever the means, or 
form, becomes an end, interest inevitably declines. 



CHAPTER XIII 

LANGUAGE WORK: ADVANCED 

Language Lessons and Grammar. — It has been cus- 
tomary to make a distinction between language work 
and grammar. It has been said that the method of 
language lessons is inductive, while grammar begins 
with formulated rules and applies them deductively. 
This is true only in small part. Grammar, like spelling, 
reading, and writing, is only one phase of language work 
as a whole. Language work is a much broader term 
than grammar — it is the genus, while grammar is a 
species. The former refers to all phases of the expression, 
or external aspect, of thought, while grammar, properly 
speaking, is limited to the sentence' as a sentence. Some 
one has defined grammar as " The science of the sentence/' 
as algebra has been defined as " The science of the equa- 
tion.' ' The phase of the sentence with which grammar 
deals is that of the internal relations of the ideas and 
hence of the words in the sentence, and of their proper 
forms. The external relations of the sentence become 
the subject-matter of rhetoric. 

Grammar Somewhat Abstract. — As a sentence is 
the expression, or the form, of the thought, so words 
are the expression, or the form, of ideas ; and since every 
sentence implies or involves several words there must be 
an interplay of ideas among themselves in the sentence ; 

150 



Language Work: Advanced 151 

that is, the words, being representatives of the ideas, must 
have relations one with another. 

Since the words are dependent upon ideas, the latter 
must be definitely grasped or realized in their relations 
before pupils acquire a keen insight into the subject of 
grammar; and since ideas are somewhat abstract for 
children or even for mature minds, the subject of 
grammar is a somewhat abstract study ; in fact, some one 
has said that grammar is fully as abstract as psychology. 

Grammar, Psychology, and Logic. — Grammar is 
closely related to psychology and logic. The " proposi- 
tion," with which logic deals, is the " declarative sen- 
tence " of grammar. In psychology we find that there 
are three primary modes of functioning of the human 
mind, viz. : (1) knowing, or intellect ; (2) feeling, or 
emotion; and (3) willing, or volition. 

The declarative sentence in grammar is addressed to 
the intellect and gives information ; while the interroga- 
tive sentence is addressed to the intellect and asks for 
information. The exclamatory sentence is addressed 
to the emotional nature and is intended to express or to 
arouse feeling. The imperative sentence is addressed 
to the will. The proposition in logic and the sentence in 
grammar swing upon the copula as a pivot. While 
grammar is related thus closely to these other two mental 
and somewhat abstract sciences, it should be remembered 
that each of them is capable of an elementary and quite 
concrete treatment and presentation. All people and 
even children are unconscious logicians and psycholo- 
gists ; and this knowledge which they possess will be 
all the more interesting and satisfying if it be made some- 



152 Fundamentals in Methods 

what conscious by instruction and concrete illustrations 
and examples. 

Where to Begin. — Properly approached, as we said, 
either psychology or grammar can be made reasonably 
plain, at least in their elementary forms, to a child in the 
upper grades of the elementary school. The trouble is 
everywhere that teachers do not begin the teaching of 
grammar where the children are, but from the point of 
view of adults and of scholars. That is, grammar is too 
often begun by teaching to mere children the principles 
and rules which have been formulated at the close of a 
long process of thinking. Grammar should be begun as 
every other science is begun — with the facts. There 
are language facts with which the child may begin as 
there are facts in every other field. The proper method 
here as elsewhere is to have the children gather and 
examine these language facts, classify them carefully, and 
then proceed by inference and induction. If grammar 
were taught in this way, it would be an interesting and, 
indeed, a fascinating subject. But like every other 
subject it should be begun at the pupil's psychological 
home. Its central problem is the keen and sensitive 
discernment of the relations and the mutual interplay 
of ideas (and hence of words) upon one another. If 
pupils grow into discrimination in this respect, grammar 
may be, in the author's opinion, the real logic of the com- 
mon school, excelling the time-honored subject of arith- 
metic. 

Why Disliked. — The reason that children do not like 
grammar in the seventh and eighth grades is that they 
do not clearly grasp the language facts with which 



Language Work: Advanced 153 

they are dealing, or see the relations between them. We 
frequently see the same inability among pupils who are 
studying geometry in the high school. They memorize 
the words of a demonstration or the letters and lines of a 
figure and do not get beyond this. They can not see the 
" point " of the proof and may be induced to go round 
and round with the demonstration, like a cat chasing its 
tail. So it is with grammar when poorly taught and 
when we proceed deductively from the position of one 
who has reached the goal, instead of one who is just 
starting in the race. Pupils become enmeshed in the 
words and the rules and do not arrive at a clear discern- 
ment of the ideas and the relations underlying or behind 
the words. The ideas and thoughts, as we said, are ab- 
stract, and children find it difficult to define, realize, or 
picture them with sufficient clearness to make them the 
basis of a science. There is such a flux and flow in it all 
that children often become lost and disheartened. All 
this, however, can be easily avoided by starting where 
the children are, and proceeding in the right manner 
slowly and carefully as in any natural science. This is 
the problem of the teacher, and few there are who grapple 
it properly and proceed successfully. 

The Sentence, a Cosmos. — The sentence is composed 
of an aggregate of words, but it is not a mere aggregate ; 
the words have a systematic relation to each other, 
depending upon the ideas which they represent. Ideas 
of all kinds are real facts, or things in the mental order, 
or world. The words are merely the representatives of 
these ideas. The ideas and words must be in a certain 
definite order and relation to express sense ; if they are 



154 Fundamentals in Methods 

out of order and relation, the aggregate expresses non- 
sense. If the words of a sentence be transposed about at 
random and thrown out of their proper relation, they 
will not express sense at all. Consequently, meaning 
emerges out of the proper relation of ideas to one another. 
The materials of a house, strewn about in piles upon the 
ground, do not constitute a house; they must first be 
put into architectural relation in order that we may have 
a building. The situation in regard to a sentence and 
its parts is accurately analogous. 

Thought Material. — Thought material in the sentence 
may be regarded and treated, in analysis, as we do the 
materials in a house. There are the substantive materials, 
in the way of lumber, brick, or stone; the modifying, 
or attributive materials, in the way of paint, varnish, or 
even the cutting and shaping of the substantive material ; 
and the relation material, in the form of mortar, nails, 
or the joinings. So it is, in the kinds of thought material 
in the construction known as a sentence : we have the 
nounal, or substantive, ideas; the attribute ideas em- 
bodied in some verbs, in adjectives, and in adverbs; 
and the relational ideas in the copula, the preposition, 
and the conjunction. When a pupil can see what a 
word or an idea does in the sentence there will be little 
trouble in classifying and naming it. This is the only 
intelligent way to proceed in teaching grammar, as it 
would be in the construction of a house. If the pupil is 
as familiar with his different kinds of thought material 
as he is with the materials of his skates, his sled, or his 
house, there will be no difficulty in interesting him in 
sentence analysis. 



Language Work: Advanced 155 

Ideas, not Words, Related. — Strictly speaking, words 
as words are not related to each other at all. One 
word does not influence another word ; but since the ideas 
which these words represent are related, and hence affect 
one another, we speak in grammar of one word's modify- 
ing another. The language is figurative and merely 
means that it is the ideas of which the words are rep- 
resentatives, that mutually influence or modify one 
another. When we say that words are related we mean 
that it is their implied ideas that are related. 

Subject and Predicate. — The fundamental relation 
of ideas in a sentence is that of subject and predicate. 
The pupils will have learned these terms during the pre- 
vious years in the grades. All such grammatical terms 
should be taught as soon as possible, just as we teach 
the meaning of words in any other field. It is a mis- 
take to suppose that the terms subject, predicate, 
etc., should be left until the pupil begins the study of 
what is called grammar, in the seventh or eighth grade. 
In fact, no such wide distinction should be made between 
what is called " formal grammar " and language. Gram- 
mar and language are of the same kind; and since the 
pupil's knowledge of language, whatever phase of it 
we may have in mind, grows from the primary grades 
to the high school and on to college and university, 
the meaning of subject and predicate should be learned 
as other words are learned, by being heard and used 
constantly and applied frequently. In this way the 
pupil absorbs the meaning thru the years. This is the 
way he has learned words in babyhood ; meanings are 
gathered thru hearing and using them in constant 



156 Fundamentals in Methods 

repetition and in customary relations. The pupils as 
they mount from grade to grade in their spiral ascent and 
come into mental contact with/all such technical terms, 
will be made more and more clearly conscious of their 
meanings by teachers who understand their business. 

The Identical Sentence. — An excellent exercise for 
cultivating as well as testing the power of discriminating 
subject and predicate may be found in what are called 
" identical sentences." In the sentence, " A mighty 
man is he," it is evident at once that the subject is " he," 
altho it is out of its normal order. But in such sen- 
tences as, " Napoleon was the greatest soldier of the 
ages," and " The greatest soldier of the ages was Napo- 
leon," some reason or test must be given. It will not do 
to say that the subject is " what is talked about " ; 
for in the sentence, " He shot a bear," all children and 
most adults would say that " bear " is what is talked 
about. ' But if the subject is that concerning which there 
is a predication, and if the predicate is the new informa- 
tion or additional light cast upon the subject (which is 
in need of light), we have a cue or clue to the solution. 
In the sentence, " The greatest of these is charity," 
the subject will be determined by finding out the idea 
under consideration, upon which flash lights are being 
turned, among others the one in this sentence. The 
predicate is always a better known idea than the subject ; 
otherwise there would be no need of a predication. The 
predicate is the searchlight turned upon the subject 
in order to illuminate it; and the subject is the idea 
needing or receiving the new light or the additional light 
of the predicate. 



Language Work: Advanced 157 

Grammar a Part of Language Work. — There is, then, 
no dividing line between grammar and language work. 
While grammar deals primarily, as we said, with the 
sentence in its internal relations, it does not hesitate to 
deal with and to systematize the varying forms of words 
which we call inflection. The inflections of nouns, 
pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are conse- 
quently made the subject of study in grammar; but 
these, of course, had been studied in language work from 
the primary department. Consequently, language work, 
so-called, moves upward into what is called grammar, 
and grammar moves downward into what is called lan- 
guage work. The two overlap and flow into each other. 
Nor do their methods differ otherwise than the elemen- 
tary and more advanced phase of any other subject of 
study. As we proceed, similarities and regularities 
are noted and expressed in what are called rules. These 
rules, then, are used for further progress. They merely 
formulate in general statements our observations and 
conclusions from them, to date. Like systematized, or 
scientific knowledge in any field, the method of pro- 
cedure in language becomes more and more deductive. 
But the deductive rules are tools which the pupils 
have wrought out by their own efforts or intelligent co- 
operation. 

Sentence Analysis. — The analysis of a sentence is 
for the purpose of showing or explaining how one part 
of it is related to another and how these parts mutually 
affect each other. To analyze a sentence is to show the 
interplay of the parts, which means the interplay of the 
ideas represented. A watchmaker can analyze a watch 



158 Fundamentals in Methods 

and show how each wheel is related to another, and how 
this, in turn, affects a third. When he has taken the 
watch to pieces and shown us the different wheels he can 
put all these into proper relations again so that the watch 
will run and perform its true function. So it is with the 
sentence. In analyzing it we exhibit the different kinds 
of words; that is, the kinds of ideas which they rep- 
resent. And having noted these, we show the relations 
which they severally bear to one another in order that 
the whole group may function in meaning and express 
a thought. 

How Ideas Work. — If a pupil can not handle with 
accuracy and definiteness the ideas with which he is 
dealing and if he can not see that one idea plays upon and 
affects another, he is not ready for grammatical analysis. 
If a teacher should proceed too rapidly with such a pupil, 
taking him into water which is altogether too deep, he 
will flounder and finally become lost. A pupil can pro- 
ceed with safety only when he has the power of dis- 
crimination in the mental material with which he is 
dealing, and when he sees that some parts and kinds are 
affected or played upon by other portions of it. The 
pupil can clearly see that when wood is painted the paint 
plays upon the wood and affects it. Now, if he can 
see that when an idea represented by the word sweet, 
for instance, plays upon another idea represented, for 
example, by the word apple, he has a situation exactly 
similar to that of the painted wood. If the pupil can 
be familiarized with this interplay of ideas, and the way 
in which one idea is related to another, he is acquiring 
a knowledge and a discriminating sense which is the 



Language Work: Advanced 159 

foundation of what is called the science of grammar. 
It is a comprehensive grasp of the relations and proper 
forms of words in a sentence. 

Parsing. — What we call " parsing " in grammar is 
merely giving the nature or kind, variation, relation, and 
consequent classification of the words (representing ideas) 
with which we are working. In the old-time teaching 
the complete systematized knowledge of the scholar, 
so far as such variations and classifications were con- 
cerned, were prematurely imposed, ready-made, upon 
the young pupil, with the unavoidable consequence that 
he became overwhelmed with the vast and complicated 
system. The whole " system " of Latin grammar was 
imposed upon English grammar, and as a consequence, 
children could not see any sense in it. They could not 
see why we speak, for example, of the gender of English 
words; and who can blame them ? Gender may be con- 
ceived of as a conventional attribute of Latin words, but 
to transfer it and impose it upon English words is be- 
wildering and nonsensical. The teacher and his class 
should proceed in regard to the nature, variation, use, 
etc., of words in an inductive manner and direction, until 
pupils become quite adept in the discrimination and in 
the classification of the thought material with which 
they are dealing. 

A Too Common Situation. — The writer once visited 
a school and witnessed there a lesson in grammar, wherein 
the teacher and her class were floundering and, indeed, 
drowning, figuratively speaking, in the subject of parti- 
ciples and infinitives. The pupils showed plainly that 
they had no discrimination in regard to the nature, form, 



160 Fundamentals in Methods 

and use of the thought material which they were han- 
dling, and the teacher showed that her discrimination 
was but little, if any, better. 

Grammar, a Science, not an Art. — Grammar, like 
many other sciences, is theoretical rather than practical ; 
that is, it is systematized knowledge of the true relations 
between words in sentences. It does not necessarily 
imply that those who study grammar will, on this ac- 
count, make no mistakes or possibly fewer mistakes in 
the use of the language. This is probably the real 
distinction between language teaching, as such, and 
grammar. Both, as we said, should be inductive, but 
language lessons properly place the primary accent upon 
doing, while grammar places it upon knowing. Conse- 
quently, grammar may properly be conceived as a science, 
while language work attempts to train in the art of ex- 
pression. The art is learned by the doing, and is begun 
in the nursery or the home, while the science emerges 
from the art when our knowledge becomes conscious and 
systematized. Art in every field precedes science ; and 
so, here, the science of grammar is taken up after the art 
has been fairly well learned. We should not trust to a 
knowledge of the science to bring about the art; one 
may know grammar from cover to cover and yet make 
innumerable blunders in the art of speech. Correct- 
ness in speech hearkens back to the home and to com- 
panions. 

Does Grammar Aid the Art of Expression ? — We 
would not say, however, that grammar does not aid at 
all in correct language expression ; but it is a mistake to 
say that it is the science which teaches us how to speak 



Language Work: Advanced 161 

and write correctly : this is not its primary aim. It is, 
it is true, of more help in written language than in 
spoken, for in the former we have more time and op- 
portunity to make corrections; while in the latter, the 
word is spoken in conformity with old habit before the 
mistake is noticed. Unless the rules which have been 
deduced from language facts are applied, and that with 
great frequency, pupils who have graduated from 
high school or even from college, with a full knowledge 
of grammar, may still continue to make grammatical 
mistakes. Pupils may learn all of the rules governing 
the possessive case and yet feel very insecure and make 
many blunders in this direction. We have known per- 
sons who could tell with accuracy just the proper use of 
will and shall, would, and should, and yet, who made 
no discriminating use of these words in actual writing 
or speech. It is theory without practice; knowing, 
without doing. 

The Diagram. — The visual picturing of the relations 
between words in a sentence is frequently found to be 
of help to pupils in grasping such relations. In some 
textbooks the subject of diagraming has been wrought 
out in great detail and into a complete system. It may 
be that in some instances the diagram may have become 
an end in itself, and pupils may have become diagram- 
minded. If this be true, it is simply an illustration of how 
a good thing may be abused. Some diagraming, or 
visual representation, however, may be a great help. 
Knowledge received from two senses is usually more 
clear and satisfactory than knowledge received from 
one sense alone; and knowledge received thru three 



1 62 Fundamentals in Methods 

senses is usually clearer than that received from two 
only. 

Now, since language itself has a usual, visual form upon 
the printed page and since the eye moves toward the 
right and downward, there is a certain definite form in 
which thoughts are actually diagramed upon the page. 
In English the subject usually comes first ; the predicate, 
next ; and the copula, wherever there is need, between. 
If these thought forms be presented visually, the children 
are given something for the mind to tie to while the 
attention may play about it. The diagram may serve 
as a sort of tether by means of which the mind may move 
around in its investigation. The following is a typical 
thought form : 



MAN (WAS) 


LIEUTENANT 


The formerly 


a 


we saw whom 


in army 


yesterday 


the 




United States 



Note : (i) Subject underscored once; the predicate twice. 

(2) The main predication written large; the clause and 

all modifiers written small. 

(3) The limiting element written below the middle of the 

one modified. 

(4) The copula may stand alone or be wrapped up with an 



Grammatical Terminology. — There is a lamentable 
confusion among grammarians on the technical terms 
employed by them. So many of these terms are 
ambiguous that the ambiguity and resulting confusion 
make a " sea of troubles " for pupils and teachers alike. 



Language Work: Advanced 163 

The object, object complement, and objective complement 
may be given as examples of " confusion worse con- 
founded." Even the simple technical term, predicate, 
has no well-defined and uniform meaning. This should 
mean, as we said under " Identical Sentences/' the 
idea or ideas which immediately and directly illumi- 
nate the subject as the speaker or writer intends. 
This idea may be either attributive or substantive. It 
may be a simple idea as " red " in " The barn is red," 
or a compound idea as " painted red " in " The barn 
was painted red." The part of the compound idea which 
helps the basic, or verbal part to make the simple 
predicate is called a complement. Of course every word 
in a sentence is complementary in the general sense; 
but a complement in the restricted, or technical, sense 
is an idea which helps out the attributive verb in the 
simple predicate. Consequently what is known as 
the direct object is not a complement in the technical 
sense any more than is any other limiting, or determin- 
ing idea. The phrase objective complement as distin- 
guished from subjective complement is appropriately 
discriminating, as the complement characterizes the 
object instead of the subject, as in " He painted the 
house white" In " The house was painted white," the 
complement is subjective, for it characterizes the sub- 
ject. The pure copula is in no sense a predicate ; it 
merely puts the predicating idea into relation with the 
subject idea. If teachers and pupils understand clearly 
the nature and use of the ideas with which they are 
dealing, they will not be misled by a confusing termi- 
nology. It would, however, be well if the technical 



164 Fundamentals in Methods 

terms of grammar were simplified and rendered un- 
ambiguous. 

Difficult to Teach. — Grammar is one of the most 
difficult subjects to teach and probably one of the most 
difficult to present in textbook form. In fact, the ideal 
text on grammar has not yet been written, tho there 
are many good books which follow the direction indicated 
in the foregoing discussion. But the textbook can not 
teach alone, and as in every other subject, it is the in- 
telligent, wide-awake, ingenious, and inspiring teacher 
who must be depended upon to " deliver the goods/' 
But with such a teacher grammar is one of the most 
fascinating subjects in the school curriculum. 



CHAPTER XIV 

ARITHMETIC: ELEMENTARY 

In Primary Grades. — Arithmetic, or what is usually 
called " number work/' should be taught during the 
primary grades in an incidental and correlated manner 
rather than regularly and systematically. It can best 
be taught in this incidental and accidental way; oc- 
casions without number come up in the child's life and 
in the schoolroom when number work of some kind 
must be used. Moreover, conceptions of number and 
of number relations are best gleaned and learned by 
children in this indirect, concrete, and practical manner. 
A child does not need to thank his teacher for the knowl- 
edge of numbers which he acquires during these early 
years : he would become possessed of such knowledge 
without her. During childhood pupils play and count 
marbles ; they gather and count eggs ; and they hear 
of measurements of various kinds. The good teacher, 
of course, can make numerous occasions for presenting 
numbers incidentally but none the less effectively. 
Children acquire number ideas without knowing it, and 
this is the best way to get them. The teacher should 
have on hand the different standards of measurement 
and various kinds of concrete objects or apparatus in- 
volving numbers. She should have a foot rule, a yard- 
stick, a pint, quart, and gallon measure, etc. They 

165 



1 66 Fundamentals in Methods 

learn by repeated references how far a mile, a half-mile, 
a rod, or a yard is, and they may be taught to measure 
the room or their own height in feet and inches. They 
learn the paging in their first and second readers and the 
meaning of it, and they learn to apply their counting in 
all their practical experiences. During the 'early years 
this concrete work is about all they should be required 
to do. 

The Grube Method. — It has been customary in the 
past, and the practice still prevails to some extent to-day, 
to follow what is called the Grube or similar method in 
all its details. An interminable and complicated process 
is thus imposed upon little children, six to eight years of 
age. They used to be kept, for example, for the first 
year upon the number ten, and all the numbers under 
ten were analyzed in every possible way, and all combina- 
tions made in addition, subtraction, multiplication, 
and division. But the children memorized much of it, 
not knowing what it all meant. It was to them a vast, 
complicated system, merely held in memory and was to 
them an end in itself. This teaching of number work 
in the early years, when the child's mind is not yet able 
to grasp number relations, is a delusion and a snare. 
The number relations implied in such over-systematiza- 
tion are altogether too abstract and complicated for 
the child's mind. No earthly use is made of it all, and it 
only helps to impress upon the child the erroneous idea 
that there is no necessary relation between the school 
and life outside. A little later, when he grows stronger, 
such number concepts and number relations come to 
him without effort. 



Arithmetic: Elementary 167 

Abstract Number Concepts from Concrete Experience. 

— The concept of numbers or of number relations arises 
naturally from experience with concrete things. The 
concept of number implies separate objects or quantities, 
and ignores quality. When we speak of ten trees, we 
do not care whether they are oak, ash, maple, walnut, 
or birch, for each comes under the category of trees — 
they are called trees. If we speak of ten men, we 
disregard the qualities and characteristics of the men. 
We do not care whether they are large or small, black 
or white, honest or dishonest; we merely regard them 
from a quantitative or numerical point of view. Con- 
sequently the concept of number is quite abstract. We 
single out from the numerous aspects which objects have 
merely the phase of quantity or of individuals as such, 
and this requires something of a stretch of thought. 
We afr-stract merely the number aspect of things ; but 
this abstraction arises naturally in the experience of the 
child, from the time he is one or two years of age. Con- 
sequently, the systematic teaching of number work 
should be begun with concrete objects. There is a 
great deal of number and arithmetic teaching in which 
the pupils can not concrete, so to speak, the general 
statements; these have no foundation in their ex- 
perience ; they can not form definite pictures of the situ- 
ations, and hence they fail to work the problems. Clear, 
definite, and concrete picturing is absolutely essential 
to an understanding of numbers and arithmetic. 

Avoid Slavery to the Concrete. — But after a teacher 
has presented a concrete object to illustrate a concept or 
general principle, the use of such object should not be 



1 68 Fundamentals in Methods 

retained too long. It frequently happens that con- 
crete objects are brought into the classroom for illus- 
trative purposes when there is no need of further illus- 
tration. In such cases the object may be a hindrance 
rather than a help, for if we are tied to the concrete, we 
are hampered in our progress. The only reason for pre- 
senting a concrete object at all is to give the child a 
clear, vivid, imaginative picture of the situation. If he 
has this picture, the further use of the object would 
serve no purpose ; it would only be in his way ; it would 
be a stumbling-block and not a stepping-stone, as it was 
at first. 

In the Evolution of Dodd the unsuccessful teacher 
described there had this reputed mischievous boy doing 
all kinds of little construction work with beans, peas, 
toothpicks, etc. Dodd was too old for such trifling play. 
Such concrete material was of no use to him in his think- 
ing ; it did not stimulate him to abstract thinking but in 
the opposite direction. It rather suggested mischievous 
processes, for he broke up the toothpicks and ate the 
beans and peas. The teacher should have known that he 
needed stronger food, and should not have attempted to 
feed him with a spoon. On another occasion the teacher 
had Dodd up before her with two or three other children 
only half his height. He was asked how many eyes he 
had, how many ears, and how many noses ! He refused 
to answer. The teacher then asked one of the smaller 
children, and he answered immediately. The teacher 
then said : " See, Dodd, how this little boy answers ; " 
and Dodd replied, " Pshaw, I knowed that always ! " 
Tony, an Italian boy of considerable size and maturity, 



Arithmetic: Elementary 169 

was being asked similar questions by a teacher who did 
not know when to leave off childish and concrete things. 
She asked him how many ears he had ; how many noses 
he had ; and how many heads he had ! Tony could stand 
it no longer, and replied, " Do you tinks Fm a tarn fool ! " 
Too Much Time on Arithmetic. — Altogether too 
much time has been devoted to the subject of arithmetic 
in our schools. Children have studied number work 
and arithmetic for eight years. Further than this, 
they have frequently had two periods in arithmetic, 
one devoted to what is called " mental, " properly 
oral arithmetic, and the other to written arithmetic. 
We devote three years to geography and two to his- 
tory, while we give eight to arithmetic, frequently 
doubling the periods, at that. Furthermore, fully 
half of the subject-matter of arithmetic is so irrel- 
evant to lif e, and indeed so worthless as a mental training, 
that it should be entirely dispensed with. This would 
mean that subjects and parts of subjects which the 
normal child of fourteen, on account of a lack of ex- 
perience (of an " apperception mass "), can not " con- 
crete " and really grasp, should be eliminated. Nothing 
is good mental training that is not clear and purposeful. 
If texts on arithmetic were revised so as to eliminate all 
of the worthless and irrelevant matter, and the advanced 
parts of subjects spun out by mathematicians, it is 
probable that all of the number work and arithmetic 
which would be really valuable could be acquired in 
four or at most in rive years. Here is a case where quan- 
tity has been dominant and where quality has been 
neglected. One problem in arithmetic that would 



170 Fundamentals in Methods 

thoroly arouse the class to a heated and protracted 
discussion would be worth fifty problems merely worked 
for the answers or results, most of the processes being 
copied from others. One problem which is a type, clearly 
understood, casts its rays in all directions and illumines an 
extensive territory. 

A Revival of Mental Arithmetic. — It is probable that 
there should be a revival of what is called mental arith- 
metic. The only reason for written arithmetic at all 
is that the problem is so complicated that it can not well 
be held in mind. Any problem which is short enough 
to be held in mind during the working should be worked 
orally. Children become such slaves to the written form 
that the simplest operations and problems must be put on 
the board or on paper before they can be solved. 

A Tool to Fight our Environment. — Mathematical 
concepts are the tool by which every individual attacks 
his material environment, and number work and arith- 
metic are the concrete and elementary forms of general 
mathematics. Man could not adjust himself at all 
to the physical environment unless he had mathematical, 
or number, concepts. He must know distances, the 
dimensions of objects, large and small, and must have 
true conceptions of volumes of various kinds to make 
the first steps toward success. Otherwise he would fail 
to adjust his environment to his needs, and his life to its 
imperious demands. 

Translation of Arabic Signs into English. — In the teach- 
ing of number work and arithmetic children should be 
taught to translate arithmetical language of all kinds into 
the English language. The signs of quantities, of rela- 



Arithmetic: Elementary 171 

tions, and of operations are merely a language, and what- 
ever appears in arithmetical language should be fre- 
quently translated into written as well as into oral speech. 
This will serve as a good language exercise and will corre- 
late the subject of arithmetic, to a reasonable extent, 
with that of language work. To illustrate the need 
of this, it may be said, for example, that many teachers, 
even, do not know that the language forms for numbers 
under one hundred are hyphenated, and in the language 
expression for numbers over one hundred the hyphen 
is omitted: as ninety-five, ninety-nine; one hundred 
twenty-five, and three hundred fourteen. 

Neat Figures. — The teacher should see to it from the 
beginning of number work that the pupils make figures 
with neatness and accuracy. At first and whenever 
necessary the teacher should write a figure on the board 
and point out its characteristics, making it several 
times while the pupils are watching. If the children 
have already formed the habit of making figures, as 
many of them undoubtedly have, the defects in their 
figures should be pointed out so that they would be 
induced to improve their more unsightly figures. By 
giving some attention to this a certain rivalry and pride 
may be generated, which will result in the making of 
neater figures. The teacher should dwell upon the pecul- 
iarities of the figure and on its good points ; the figure 
4, for instance, should have, at what might be called the 
" southwest corner/' an acute angle and not a round turn 
or curve. The figure 6 should have a straight back and 
not a curved, stooped one. The figure 8 should be begun 
at the top with the curve toward the left and ended with 



172 Fundamentals in Methods 

the straight upward stroke, and should not be formed, 
as we frequently see it, in the other direction. 

Teaching the Decimal Conception of Numbers. — 
Pupils should be given a clear understanding of the 
decimal law in the Arabic system of notation. For 
this purpose a box of toothpicks would be a valuable 
and cheap investment. It should be shown that the 
first figure at the right of a whole number indicates 
individual toothpicks; the next figure, called the io's 
figure, indicates the number of bundles of 10 each; 
the third, or the ioo's figure, indicates the number of 
still larger bundles of 100 each, or ten bundles of 10 
each. These toothpicks and bundles should be placed 
upon a table between horizontal fines; the first place 
or column at the right, indicating units; the next, 
tens ; the third, hundreds ; etc. In the number 4444, 
each 4 derives its value from its place or position ; that 
is, the 4 at the right indicates 4 units; the next 4, in 
the tens' place, indicates four io's (or 40 units) ; the 
next 4, in the hundreds' place, indicates four ioo's (40 
tens, or 400 units). By this simple concrete plan the 
" why " of addition and of subtraction can be clearly 
shown. The good teacher will work all this out plainly 
and concretely so that the children will see the law in 
it all; and after they have seen the law there is no 
further need of the concrete objects. It is, too, sufficient 
to carry the concrete illustration to three places; they 
will thus have been let into the law. 

Notation and Numeration. — Pupils should be given 
a clear concept of what is known as notation and numera- 
tion. In the discussion and explanation of the decimal 



Arithmetic: Elementary 173 

law in the Arabic system they should see that there are 
families, so to speak, in numbers : units are one family, 
thousands another, millions another, and so on. Then, 
within each family there are three figures, read in the 
same manner in each family. For example, we have 
9 figures in the following number: 319,817,124. The 
first family at the right is units ; there are 1 24 of these ; 
the next family is thousands, and there are 817 of these ; 
the third family from the right is millions, and there are 
319 of these. There is not much need of going beyond 
millions. Billions, trillions, etc., will be learned often 
thru curiosity and a desire on the part of pupils to 
read larger numbers. 

Rapidity. — The " fundamental operations " are tools, 
and their skillful and rapid use should become a facile 
and accurate habit. Indeed, rapidity in all these pro- 
cesses is only second to accuracy itself. The nervous 
system is involved in the fundamental operations quite 
as much as the mind itself. These processes should 
become rapid and accurate habitual reactions. 

Points in Addition. — In addition of numbers it would 
be well to teach the practice, which is very prevalent 
in practical life, of putting down at the side the sum of 
each column. If an interruption occurs anywhere in 
the addition, the whole process from the first will not, 
then, have to be gone over again. One can start where 
the interruption occurred; as, for example: 

789 20 

527 18 

964 22 
2280 



174 Fundamentals in Methods 

Pupils should be taught to add rapidly; and in the 
process to g^ve merely results as they proceed up or 
down a column, without naming the individual figures 
as they come to them. The pupils should also be taught 
to add two figures at once when they foresee a happy 
and easy combination. The columns should always be 
written in symmetrical form and the parallelism of 
strokes or lines and of columns should be preserved. 

The Multiplication Table. — The teaching of the 
multiplication table, which is an essential tool in all 
arithmetical work, might well be rested, in part, upon 
memory. To work out the whole table by concrete 
objects, such as toothpicks, is time wasted and lost. 
While memory is not the dominant factor anywhere 
in mathematics, it is not to be entirely ignored, and 
there comes a time when the multiplication table should 
be learned, if necessary, in part by this means. It is 
repeated and used as a tool to such an extent that even 
when memorized and not reasoned out, it is retained 
in mind by the law of repetition. Later years will 
likewise fill it in with more thought and reason. When 
the multiplication table is being learned, or when it has 
been learned, an interesting exercise would be a multi- 
plication contest ; as pupils " spell down " so they might 
" multiply down." Here, as in all number work, 
rapidity is one of the objects to be attained. Accuracy, 
of course, is the great aim, but rapidity comes a close 
second. Many pupils and teachers waste valuable 
time ; pupils take twenty minutes to do what ought to 
be done in five. By awakening interest in the multi- 
plication table as a kind of contest, pupils will attain 



Arithmetic: Elementary 175 

great speed. The following is a good device by means 
of which the whole multiplication table could be gone 
thru with without interruption : 39726548 

72583964 
In the above, if the pupil hold the number 4 in mind as 
a multiplier, and give simply the products with each 
figure above as a multiplicand, and then without stop- 
ping, hold the number 6 in mind as a multiplier and 
give the products of each number above, and so on with 
each figure in the lower line, by the time he will have 
gone thru it all he will have given every result possible 
in the multiplication table up to 10. The order of the 
figures should be changed to break up habit, and the 
teacher might keep a record of the number of seconds 
required by each pupil. 

Imagination in Arithmetic. — Pupils should have clear, 
imaginative pictures of the elements and relations in 
arithmetical problems. As an example of the lack of 
this, the practice may be frequently observed, of mul- 
tiplying feet by feet and getting square feet ; and then 
multiplying square feet by feet and getting cubic feet. 
Such a verbiage indicates a great lack of clear thinking ; 
for it is as impossible to multiply feet by feet and get 
square feet as it is to multiply dollars by dollars and 
get square dollars. We can take only what we have : 
the multiplicand indicates what is to be taken and the 
multiplier simply indicates the number of times that we 
are to take it. Whatever we start with we come out 
with. If we have oats in a bin, and take out two bushels 
at each of three different times, we shall have taken 
out three (times) two bushels of oats, and have just 



176 



Fundamentals in Methods 



what we started with — oats. Pupils should be made 
to see that a long, or linear foot is a different thing 
from a square foot, and that each of these is totally 
different from a cubic foot. There is no more similarity 
between a linear foot and a square foot or a cubic foot 
than there is between an elephant and a bootjack. A 
square foot is not made out of long feet, and a cubic 
foot is not made out of square feet. A square foot of 
surface may be produced by moving the long foot, but 
it is not made out of long feet. A well may be produced 
by moving a shovel, but it is not made out of shovels. 
If we have a rectangle 7" X 8" and wish to find the 
number of square inches, we may divide the rectangle 
8 " up into squares by im- 

aginary lines one inch 
apart running each 
way. Then it will be 
seen that one row of 
7" such little squares is 
8 square inches; and 
since there are seven 
rows in the rectangle, 
there will then be 7 X 8 
square inches, or 56 
square inches. If some one should ask where we got the 
square inches, the proper answer would be that they are 
simply there in the surface under consideration, and 
that the location of them is merely indicated by the 
lines. The square inches were all there at the begin- 
ning ; we do not produce them by multiplying inches by 
inches. 









a 1 


•ow 









































































































Arithmetic : Elementary 



177 




If we have a cube four inches each way, we may divide 
it up in imagination by drawing lines, some of them 
parallel to each other and others perpendicular to these, 
so as to indicate the location of the little cubes called 
" cubic inches " in the large cube. Now in one " row " 
it will be seen that there are 4 cubic inches ; there are 
also four rows in what 
may be called a "slab." r: 

Consequently there will 
be 4 (not 4 inches) times 
four cubic inches, or 16 
cubic inches, in one slab ; 
then, since there are four 
slabs in the cube, there 
will be 4 times 16 cubic 
inches, or 64 cubic inches, 

in the block. We start with cubic inches and come out 
with cubic inches. We are not creators — we can take 
only what we have. To multiply inches by inches or 
feet by feet is as impossible as it would be to fly to the 
moon — in fact, it is more impossible, for it is unthink- 
able. 

The Sign of Multiplication. — The sign of multiplica- 
tion has three different names : if the multiplier comes 
first, the sign is called " times " ; if the multiplicand 
comes first, the sign is called " multiplied by " ; and if 
it be between two fractions it is called "of." " 2 X 
$3 = $6 " is read, " two times three dollars equals six 
dollars " ; " $3 x 2 = $6 " is read, " three dollars multi- 
plied by two equals six dollars " ; and " J of f = \ " is 
read " one half of two thirds equals one third." Such 



178 Fundamentals in Methods 

observations as these always arouse thought and stimu- 
late interest in the direction of clear thinking. 

The Precedence Signs. — A discussion of the pre- 
cedence of signs in arithmetical operations is also an 
interesting piece of knowledge to pupils and should be 
made clear. It is somewhat of a revelation to a pupil 
in arithmetical thinking to see clearly the relations that 
exist between the abstract numbers involved in a merely 
indicated compound operation. If we should take, for 
example, the following : 24 + 4X2 — 12-5-2= ? and 
perform the operations in the order indicated, the result 
will be 22. If, however, we perform the multiplication 
and division first, as the texts suggest, we get for an 
answer 26. Which, then, is clear thinking? The ques- 
tion may then be raised as to whether the precedence 
of the multiplication and division signs is merely due 
to convention or whether such precedence is necessarily 
inherent in the operation. Thus if we concrete the above 
as follows, it will be seen that it is inherently necessary 
to perform the multiplication and division first : $24 + 
4 X $2 - $12 -j- 2 = $26. 

Algebra would also indicate this : if 24 = a, and 
4 = b, and 2 = c, and 12 = d, the problem would be as 

follows : a + be = ? In examining the operation 

c 

more closely it will be seen that the signs plus and minus 

indicate parts of a quantity that are as yet separated or 

separable, while the signs of multiplication and division 

do not indicate parts of a quantity between which such 

relation obtains, but are already merged or united in 

some way. 



Arithmetic: Elementary 179 

Basis of Cancelation. — Because pupils do not see or 
understand the relations indicated in the foregoing they 
will often perform the process known as cancelation 

2 J. f y 5 

upon the following : = ? Of course it should 

have been evident at once that since cancelation is 
merely the striking out of equal factors, and not the 
elimination of parts, it can not be employed in simplify- 
ing this expression. When equal factors are eliminated 
in two numbers, the ratio is not changed, but when 
equal parts of two numbers are eliminated, the ratio is 
changed. 

Figures Should Tell the Truth. — Figures and pro- 
cesses should always tell the truth. Teachers frequently 
allow forms which do not do this. Take, for example, 
the following 17X2-4=? A pupil will often give 
the following form of solution : 7 X 2 = 14 — 4 = 10. 
Now, in the interest of clear thinking it should be under- 
stood that all on one side of the sign of equality must 
be equal to all on the other side; and while the pupil 
evidently has in mind the truth in regard to the fore- 
going, the form indicates that 7 X 2 = 14 — 4 and 
that each of these is equal to 10, which is not true. 

While it may not be well, in teaching, to adopt too 
much of a martinet system of procedure, it should be 
insisted upon that forms and processes should conform 
to the truth; otherwise there is danger of vagueness, 
if not inaccuracy, in mental pictures and in results. 

The Proper Form in Multiplication. — In the teaching 
of multiplication the pupil should be taught, in the 
interest of economy and of neatness, to place the figures 



180 Fundamentals in Methods 

in the proper position with relation to each other. If, 
for instance, we are multiplying 24600 by 13000, dif- 
ferent pupils will place these digits differently and in 
some cases produce an unnecessary number of figures by 
often actually multiplying thru by the zero. The fol- 
lowing is the correct form : 

24600 
13000 

246 



319800000 



Here, again, the uprightness and parallelism of the figures 
and the lines, both vertical and horizontal, should be 
insisted upon. 

The Form of Division. — The question is often 
raised as to whether pupils should be first taught the 
form known as long division or that known as short 
division. Sometimes such small topics are discussed 
at great length, over and over again, in teachers' in- 
stitutes and elsewhere, and are made to seem very 
important. Since the children know the law of the 
decimal notation, and since they also know the multi- 
plication table, it is difficult to see why division should 
not be taught and practiced in the form known as short 
division within the limits of the multiplication table. 
Then a person knows at once the number of times the 
divisor is contained in a certain part of the dividend, 
and also knows the remainder; consequently short 
division is the proper procedure under such circum- 
stances. 



Arithmetic: Elementary 181 

But where the divisor is above 10 or 12, and con- 
sequently where the divisions involve numbers outside 
of the ordinary multiplication table, we resort to what 
is known as long division, which is simply trying out 
how many times the divisor is contained, and then 
subtracting to find the remainder. It should be made 
plain to children that there is really no difference, except 
the slight difference in form, between the two processes. 



CHAPTER XV 

ARITHMETIC: ADVANCED 

Acquired Incidentally. — By the time children have 
arrived at the age when they should be introduced to a 
systematic treatment of common fractions (which will 
be about the fifth grade), they will have learned a great 
deal about many fractions incidentally and accidentally 
in the course of their school life and of their experiences. 
At a very early age they form definite concepts and clear 
pictures of J, J, J, f, etc. They have divided apples 
fractionally ; they know what half an apple or a quarter 
of a pie means ; they have learned the meaning of half 
an inch, half a foot, half a mile, etc. Having known a 
quarter, they will have a clear understanding of three 
fourths, of two thirds, and probably of other fractions 
in lowest terms. Indeed they will have a fairly good 
knowledge of most of the common fractions as applied 
to the various needs of everyday life. 

" Fractions/' not New. — It frequently happens that 
when children are introduced to a systematic study of 
fractions in the textbook, they think they are getting 
into a new subject and into a new field of thought; 
indeed the subject is often presented in such a way as 
to give good grounds for so thinking. The systematic 
study of fractions should be begun, just as language and 
grammar, where the child is; that is, his apperception 

182 



Arithmetic: Advanced 183 

mass of mathematical knowledge should be used prac- 
tically for further procedure. 

A Clear Conception of Fractions Important. — Frac- 
tions form one of the most important — if indeed, not the 
most important — phases of arithmetic. Some one has 
said that he who knows fractions knows arithmetic. 
Consequently it is essential that instruction be given 
here with great clearness. Tho imagination is needed 
in all the processes of arithmetic, it is especially valuable 
in fractions, and hence every process should first be 
illustrated in the concrete. As soon as it becomes 
evident that the why of the process is clearly compre- 
hended and that the pupil has a vivid imaginative pic- 
ture, the concrete material should be dispensed with. 
While it is essential to begin with the concrete, it is just 
as essential not to be tied to it. It might be permissible 
in teaching the word " cat " to a class of beginners in 
the chart, to bring in, if convenient, a real cat, but it 
would be the extreme of the concrete, if not silly teach- 
ing, to bring the cat into the class every day. All pupils 
are endowed with imagination, and this faculty supplies 
a good substitute, and one much more convenient for 
practical purposes than the real things themselves. 
Beginnings in fractions should, however, be concreted. 

The teacher should be sure that the children have 
clear, definite pictures of all the terms used and of every 
process and operation, and know just why these take 
place. A pupil should vividly realize that the word 
denominator indicates the kind of piece under con- 
sideration. A half is different in size from a third or a 
quarter, and a pupil should no more make a mistake in 



184 Fundamentals in Methods 

confusing one with the other than he should in confusing 
a man with a ten-year-old boy. The denominator, or 
namer, of the fraction indicates the size of the piece. 
The numerator indicates the number of such pieces 
under consideration. There is also another term which 
should be clearly in mind: as the denominator in- 
dicates the size of the piece, the pupil should have in 
mind the thing or unit, of which it is a piece — in other 
words, " the unit of the fraction, " or thing which has been 
pieced or fractioned. The child should clearly see, once 
and for all, that when something has been fractioned, 
or divided, into two equal pieces, one piece is called a 
half; if the same thing is divided into three equal pieces, 
one piece is called a third, and so on. If we divide an 
apple into equal pieces and take a Certain number of 
them, the apple is the unit of the fraction: it is the 
" what " — the thing, a part of which is indicated by 
the fraction. It is the concrete object under considera- 
tion. If one should say f, it means nothing until the 
person indicates that of which it is J. If a person should 
send an errand boy to a store and tell him to buy f , it 
would be meaningless; he would say, " § of what?" 
And so every fraction has a unit of which the expression 
under consideration indicates a part. 

Only Like Units can be United. — In whole numbers 
it was very clear that in order to add two concrete num- 
bers they had to be of the same kind or denomination : 
three feet and two rods can not be united till one is trans- 
formed into units of the other. We can add oats to 
oats and call it oats; we can add wheat to wheat and 
call it wheat; we can add bushels to bushels and call 
the result bushels ; but we can not add chairs to tables 



Arithmetic: Advanced 185 

and call the result either chairs or tables. Consequently, 
in order to add two numbers they must designate the 
same kind or unit. 

Now, in fractions the denominator indicates the size 
or kind (in volume) of a piece. If, then, we wish to 
add a third and a fourth, we have two things to be added 
but they are different in size, or kind. It will, then, 
be impossible to unite them and call them either thirds 
or fourths. If, however, we could change the form of 
one third and one fourth in such a way as not to change 
their value, they could have the same kind of unit name, 
or denominator, and we could then add them together. 
The pupils could be shown concretely that a third is 
the same as four twelfths; and a fourth, the same as 
three twelfths. We now have twelfths as the " size of 
piece " to be added, and we have 4 of them in one case 
and 3 of them in another, making 7 of them in all. 

If the denominators be written out in words, and the 
numerators be written in Arabic figures before the words, 
the adding of fractions receives a change of form which 
makes the process similar to the addition of whole 
numbers, and hence finds a response in the pupiPs past 
knowledge and experience : 

4 twelfths 

3 twelfths 

7 twelfths 

14 twelfths 

This form is exactly similar to the following : 

3 horses 

4 horses 
7 horses 



1 86 Fundamentals in Methods 

" G. C. D." and " L. C. M." — It is probable that if 
a pupil has been studying a textbook with several 
teachers, he has been thru a desultory discussion and 
presentation of what are called " Greatest Common 
Divisor " and " Least Common Multiple," prior to his 
study of fractions. It may be that he did not know 
just why he was learning such things. Indeed, except 
in the field of fractions, greatest common divisor and 
least common multiple are of little value in everyday 
life. But in fractions he will come to a time and place 
where it will be necessary, in order to add or subtract 
fractions, to reduce them to the same denominator; 
in other words, to bring the fractions to terms which 
will represent the same kind of pieces, without at the 
same time changing the value of the fractions. Greatest 
common divisor (or measure) and least common multiple 
should, themselves, be kept in their simplest form. They 
are a means, and not an end. They are a tool and 
should be used as such. The teacher should see to it 
that pupils know just how, when, and why they should 
be used. When necessary to use them the pupils should 
have clear and definite concepts and pictures of every 
stage in the problem. 

Employed in Fractions. — Frequently fractions must 
be raised to higher terms in order to bring them to rep- 
resent the same kind of piece so that they may be 
added or subtracted. The denominator, or namer, 
may need to be multiplied, in order to make the pieces 
smaller; and hence, in order to preserve the value of 
the fraction, the numerator must be correspondingly 
raised in order to take a proportionately larger number 



Arithmetic: Advanced 187 

of these smaller pieces. The least common multiple 
will represent the smallest number — or largest piece 
— that may be used in the operation. This will enable 
us to keep our problem in its simplest and lowest terms 
and thus avoid large and unwieldy numbers. It fre- 
quently happens, also, that fractions whose numerator 
and denominator are large numbers, may be reduced to 
lower terms by dividing each by the same number. This 
increases the size of the pieces and takes a correspondingly 
smaller number of them. It is here that we need to 
know how to find a divisor of both numerator and de- 
nominator in order not to be reduced to guessing; and 
to know how to find the greatest divisor in order to ex- 
pedite work by one division. Hence it is that in the 
field of fractions what are called the greatest common 
divisor (or measure) and the least common multiple 
are of great value. 

Terms Should be Explained. — The teacher should 
here show the propriety and aptness of each word in 
the above terms — why " greatest," why " common," 
and why " divisor," or " measure " ; why " least," why 
" common," and why " multiple." It will be found 
that technical terms have some reason — usually a 
good reason — for their use. If the pupil can be made 
to see that the term used is the best one possible, he 
will thereafter use it with clearer insight and more satis- 
faction. This is true in arithmetic as in every other 
field. Pupils should know the actual value and meaning 
of the terms and words which they are using. It fre- 
quently happens that pupils get the idea that the least 
common multiple and greatest common divisor are 



1 88 Fundamentals in Methods 

things which are an end and aim in themselves. They 
hardly know why they are studying them, but think 
that perhaps they shall find out some time in the future. 
The teacher and the children should approach these 
subjects, as all others, from the point of view of the 
children and should graft them upon the pupils' ex- 
periences. 

" Invert the Divisor." — Much discussion takes place 
in teachers' institutes and teachers' gatherings generally 
over the why of inverting the divisor in the division 
of fractions. It is a good subject for talk and discussion ; 
it uses much time and is never ending in its repetition. 
We shall not here go into the reason which would 
probably be plainest to the children, for it is not our 
purpose to write a course of study or a methodology in 
detail. We merely raise questions and points of interest 
that would be pivotal in the study of these subjects, 
and consequently the detailed procedure must be left 
to the teacher. We would say, however, that while the 
" inversion of the divisor," as it is called, can and should 
be explained to children by concrete illustrations, there 
is no harm done if they depend, for a time and in the 
main, upon their memory for the retention of this prin- 
ciple. It is one easily remembered — in fact, it can not 
be forgotten — and when such is the case it is probably 
best not to waste too much time in fine distinctions 
and philosophic discussion in regard to the why's and 
wherefore's, but to leave it as a form which will be held 
in mind, largely by memory but partly by insight, and 
which will be filled in and completed in later years. 
The reason for inverting the divisor will appear plainer 



Arithmetic: Advanced 189 

and plainer as the years go by. Curiosity and the 
annoyance at being " stumped " by it will provoke 
investigation for one's self. Time might possibly be 
wasted in too protracted an attempt to explain to chil- 
dren all the why's and wherefore's of every process. 
While the memory is not the fundamental faculty in 
arithmetic, neither is it a faculty to be despised and 
neglected, for it aids all the other faculties of the mind 
in bringing about a more complete understanding later 
on. The same thing is true, as we said, in regard to 
memorizing to some extent the multiplication table. 
There are two extremes equally to be avoided : that of 
memorizing*everything in arithmetic and that of memoriz- 
ing nothing. 

The Unit of the Fraction. — In previous paragraphs 
we called attention to the importance of having in mind 
what is called the " unit of the fraction ; " that is, the 
unit, or thing, which has been divided, pieced, or frac- 
tioned. In solving problems in fractions pupils fre- 
quently lose sight of the thing under consideration. 
They may truly be said not to know what they are talk- 
ing about. This may be made plain by the following 
problem and its solution : 

Problem: My crop this year is f of my last year's crop, and in 
both years I raised 4400 bushels. What was each year's crop? 

Solution: To solve this problem the pupil should proceed as 
follows : 

Let I of last year's crop = last year's crop. 

[In many schools pupils are taught to say: "Let f = last 
year's crop." 

But the question, "f of what?" is pertinent, f alone is mean- 
ingless; it is similar to telling the messenger to go to the store 



190 Fundamentals in Methods 

and get f for you. Consequently, if a pupil lose sight of the 
"what" in this expression he does not know what he is talking 
about.] 

Then, the problem says that this year's crop was f of last 
year's crop ; consequently, 

\ of last year's crop = this year's crop. 

Then, f of last year's crop (last year's crop) + f of last year's 
crop (this year's crop) = f of last year's crop = both crops. 

It will be seen that our unit, last year's crop, appears in all 
expressions. Last year's crop was made the standard; it is the 
unit of the fractions ; it is the criterion ; it is the yardstick by 
which we measure each crop. 

We see, then, that f of last year's crop = both crops = 4400 
bushels. 

Hence f of last year's crop = 4400 bushels -5- 8. 

Hence, f of last year's crop = 3 X 4400 bushels -5-8 =1650 
bushels (last year's crop). 

And f of last year's crop = 5 X 4400 bushels 4-8 =2750 
bushels (this year's crop). 

It will be seen that these fulfill all the conditions of 
the problem. It should be noted also that we never 
let go from our minds for an instant the unit of the frac- 
tion: the "what." 

The Question, " Of What? " — A teacher well known 
in the west was training his class in fractions on such 
problems as the foregoing and was constantly insisting 
upon the pupils' never losing sight for a moment of the 
question, " of what?" When the pupil would say 
" f = the number," he would say " f of what? " He 
kept up a running fire of this kind for some weeks, never 
allowing the pupil for an instant to forget what he was 
talking about. When Christmas came the pupils in 
his class presented him with a beautiful gold-embroidered 



A rithmetic : A dvanced 191 

banner with the words " Of what? " on it. He turned 
the tables on them by hanging it on the wall over his 
desk. After that when a pupil would say " f = the 
number " he would simply stamp his foot on the floor 
and point to the banner on the wall. It was a good 
lesson in fractions. 

Some Algebra, or General Arithmetic. — Instead of 
using the phrase, " last year's crop," as the unit of the 
fraction, the pupils might be taught to use a letter in- 
stead. This is the origin of the algebraic letters x, y, z. 
The thing under consideration, the unit of the fraction, 
should be expressed in every case, either in language 
or in representative symbols. The latter practice 
would initiate pupils into general thinking and into 
algebraic processes, so that when they come to the 
subject of algebra they will not think, as many do, 
that it is an entirely new and foreign subject. 

Old Friends in New Masks. — It is a weakness of 
teaching everywhere to allow pupils to labor under the 
false impression that every new part of a subject and 
every new subject is entirely new and isolated from 
anything that they have ever had before. There is an 
old adage, " Commune vinculum omnibus artibus," which 
means, " There is a common bond among all the knowl- 
edges/' All subjects are more or less related, and dif- 
ferent parts of a subject are so essentially similar that a 
so-called new topic in arithmetic is practically an old 
friend in a new mask. There should be a reasonable 
amount of correlation between subjects, and a large 
degree of correlation between parts of the same subject. 
Each part should grow out of the part preceding. All 



192 Fundamentals in Methods 

new knowledge should be the natural sequence of what 
has preceded. If this be the case, instead of being 
unable to remember, a pupil would be unable to forget. 

The Decimal Plan. — Decimal fractions are frequently 
thought by pupils to be an entirely new topic, when in 
reality they are only another form' of the common frac- 
tion. They are not only a form of the common fraction, 
but they are equally a form of the whole number. Take 
for example, the following number : 4444.4444 ; we see 
here what is usually called the decimal point, separating 
the whole number, or integer, from the decimal fractional 
part. Now, each figure in whole numbers takes its 
value, as we saw, from its place or position in the scheme 
of 4's at the left of the decimal point. The first 4 at 
the left of the point means 4 units ; the 4 at the left of 
this is ten times as large, and the 4 still at the left is 
again multiplied by 10 ; and so on to the left. This is 
the scheme; this is the device; this is the plan of the 
Arabic system of decimal notation. 

The same law which holds toward the left also holds 
toward the right; as every 4 in the above number is 
ten times the 4 at the right, so every 4 is one tenth the 
value of the 4 at the left. Consequently the 4 at the 
right of the decimal point is only ■£$ the value of the 4 at 
the left of this point, or .4, ^ ; the second 4 at the right 
is one tenth the value of the first 4 at the right, or .04, y^o" ; 
the third 4 at the right is one tenth the value of the 
second four at the right, or .004, toW • Hence, it will be 
seen that the decimal point does not indicate a break 
or a chasm of any kind ; the same law reigns from left 
to right and from right to left unimpeded and unchanged ; 



A r it June tic : A dvanced 



193 



it is the law of tens and of tenths. The following 
form will illustrate the law of decimals, both in whole 
numbers and in decimal fractions : 




However plain we may make this and however well 
the pupils may seem to understand it, they frequently 
fail when they come to apply the law of decimals to a 
problem like the following: Put upon the board the 
following expressions, and ask a pupil to translate into 
ordinary language : 



(1) 

(3) 
(4) 

(s) 



.I2j 
•02§ 
.00J 

•o| 

1 

•2 



He will say that the first is " twelve and one-half hun- 
dredths " ; the second, " two and one-half hundredths " ; 
the third, " one-half hundredth " ; the fourth, " one- 
half tenth " ; the fifth " one-half " is a puzzle ; he will 
stumble and balk ; he can not answer. 

He is likely to change his mind and say that he was 
wrong : that the fifth is " one-half tenth " ; the fourth, 
"one-half hundredth"; the third, "one-half thou- 
o 



194 Fundamentals in Methods 

sandth " ; the second, " two and one-half thousandths" ; 
and the first, " twelve and one-half thousandths." 

But if you give him the following: $.12 J and ask 
him what it means, he will have to say that it is " twelve 
and one-half cents." If his attention be called to the 
fact that " cent " comes from the Latin word " centum," 
meaning 100, and that \2\ cents is the same as " twelve 
and one-half hundredths " of a dollar, he will not know 
what to think or say. Altho he had apparently 
seen and understood the law of decimal notation, he 
seems now nonplused by the expression, one half with 
the decimal point before it (*|). 

The Use of the Decimal Point. — We may then enter 
upon the discussion of the use of the decimal point. 
If it were understood by all that the figure in units' place 
is to be written large, we should have no need of a decimal 
point, for the units' place would be indicated ; and the 
value of every figure to the left and to the right would 
be determined by its position ; each would fall into line 
with its own value derived from its position with respect 
to units' place. We should then not need a decimal 
point at all. The trouble with this plan, of course, 
would be that people, thru negligence, would make 
all the figures so nearly equal in size that there would 
be ground for interminable disputes. 

If we should write the figure of units' place in red ink 
and all the other figures to the left and right in black 
ink, there would be no need of a decimal point ; for, as 
before, the values of the figures would be determined 
by their position with reference to this figure. But 
this would be inconvenient also. 



Arithmetic: Advanced 



195 



If, instead of a decimal point, we should use the hand 
(AST*) to indicate units' place, there would be no need 
of a decimal point. Or if we should put the point or 
the period above the units' figure in order to indicate it, 
we could dispense with it where it is now placed; but 
another sign, that of the repeating decimal, has pre- 
empted this position. Consequently, it does not seem 
that it is the decimal point which gives value to a figure 
at all. The figure derives its value from its position, 
or its place with reference to units. 

A common fraction combined with a decimal does not 
occupy a place by itself. It has the same name and 
position as the integer at its left. Consequently in the 
expression, $.i2f, the 1 means T V °f a dollar; the 2 
means 2 cents, or y§ ^ of a dollar ; the \ following it 
belongs to the same place, or position as the 2 ; it 
means one-half cent, or one-half hundredth of a 
dollar. If we wish to change the form of the .12 \ so 
as to give the \ a position of its own, we see that 
a half in the position of tenths (where it is) is 
equivalent to 5 in the next position at the right. Con- 
sequently twelve and one-half hundredths equals .125 
thousandths, for one-half hundredth is the same as five 
thousandths. The puzzle, then, in >\ has been solved. 
The half with the decimal point before it does not take 
its value from the decimal point at all. Its value is 
determined by its position, and its position is that of 
the figure normally at the left of it, which would be units' 
place; consequently, one-half with a decimal point 
before it, if perchance it be placed there, is really one- 
half of a unit. In other words, the decimal point is 



196 Fundamentals in Methods 

useless and misplaced, but does not affect the value of 
the fraction at its right. 

Origin of the Decimal System. — It would be an in- 
teresting piece of information to show the class in arith- 
metic that the decimal system had its origin in the 
fact that the human race are a ten-fingered race. People 
were accustomed to use their fingers in computation and 
the decimal system is based upon ten for this reason. 
Some other system, if it had been inaugurated and all 
texts on arithmetic and all mathematical knowledge 
made to conform to it, would answer just as well. 
Many have advocated a change to the duodecimal 
system as being more convenient in many respects; 
but a change would be utterly impossible. Under the 
duodecimal system, instead of the figure's increasing 
in value to the left by ten it would increase by twelve, 
and decrease, of course, to the right, in the same 
ratio. 

Beware of the " And " in Mixed Decimals. — It 
would be a good language lesson and would bring pupils 
to a realization of the necessity of accuracy in written 
language, if we should ask them to put into English the 
following expressions : 

.126423 

100.026423 

126400.000023 

The importance of the and in mixed decimals will 
be seen in the above. The careless use of and might 
make the difference between twelve cents and a quarter 
of a million dollars, if it were left to the usual careless 
reader of such expressions. 



Arithmetic: Advanced 197 

When the problem is one of whole numbers only and has 
no relation to decimal fractions, the insertion of an and is 
not a criminal offense, arithmetically speaking, for then 
there is no ambiguity in regard to it. But when we come 
to whole numbers and decimals combined, an and may 
play havoc. Consequently children should be alert in 
regard to it and be taught to act accordingly. 

Imagination in Arithmetic. — Everywhere in arith- 
metic there is great room for the play of the imaging 
power ;*in fact, no person can be proficient in mathematics 
unless he has a reasonably lively imagination. As we 
said in another place, the reason why children as a rule 
do not get their problems and their lessons is that they 
can not picture the situation. The following are a few 
samples taken at random to illustrate imagination in 
arithmetic : 

(1) The Area of a Circle. — To give pupils a clear 
picture of how to find the area of a circle it would be 
well to take special pains with the first concrete illus- 
tration. An accurate circle should be made out of 
paper. This should be divided minutely into sectors. 
These should be cut almost thru to the circumference 
so that the circle could be opened up and laid out length- 
wise, upon its back, with the numerous sector points stand- 
ing straight up. If, now, we take a half of this circle, 
containing just half the number of sectors, and turn this 
half over upon the other so that the sectors will mutually 
fit and fill all the spaces, we shall have a perfect rec- 
tangle whose length will be one-half the circumference and 
whose height will be equal to the radius of the circle. 
The pupils can very plainly see, then, that the area of 



198 



Fundamentals in Methods 



the circle may be found by multiplying half of the circum- 
ference by the radius. The following is an illustration : 




The Circumference 



1/S> Circumference 



(2) The Pythagorean Theorem. — That the square on the 
hypothenuse is equal to the squares on the other two sides 
can be proven in arithmetic by a visual illustration and 
demonstration which are simple and conclusive. 




Arithmetic: Advanced 199 

First, have a pupil draw a square (1, 2, 3, 4) upon the 
board. This is the beginning, and we construct the proof 
as we proceed. Then have him place a point at equal 
distances from each corner going around in the same 
direction. Connect these four points and we have an 
inscribed square. Then draw two lines (ap and ob) 
perpendicular to each other as indicated in the figure, 
and we have a right-angled triangle, a, b, c, plainly 
visible. We also see that the inscribed square, spoken 
of above, is a square on its hypothenuse (ab) — turned 
backward rather than forward. We also see that there 
are four equal triangles, w, x,y,z; we also see that there 
are two equal rectangles, mn and op. It is also evident 
that each triangle is half a rectangle or, in other words, 
that each rectangle is equal to two of the triangles; 
consequently the two rectangles are equal to the four 
triangles. 

Now, if we take from the original square the four 
triangles, we have left the square on the hypothenuse ; 
and if we take from the original square the two rec- 
tangles (which are the same as the four triangles), we 
have left two squares, one on each of the other two 
sides of the triangle (abc) ; consequently the square 
on the hypothenuse is equal to the sum of the squares 
on the other two sides ; for if equals (4 A J s = 2 □ *s) 
be subtracted from equals, the remainders (square on 
hypothenuse and squares on the other two sides) must 
be equal. 

(3) A Lumber Problem. — As another example of a 
situation where the imagination is of vital importance, 
let us take a simple problem in lumber measurement: 



200 Fundamentals in Methods 

If we have a stick of sawed timber 4" X 6" and 10' 
long, and should ask a pupil how many feet of lumber 
there are in it, his working it successfully will depend 
upon his ability to picture it in mind. He must first, 
of course, have a clear picture of a " board foot/' or a 
" foot of lumber. " This means a board one foot square 
and one inch thick. This is the unit, the criterion, 
the standard in thinking lumber. If the pupil has not 
this in mind, he is lost everywhere. Such a piece of 
lumber should be in the schoolroom among other con- 
crete specimens. Now, in the solution of this problem 
he will have to see that this stick might be sawed into 
6 boards 4" wide or 4 boards 6" wide ; it does not make 
any difference which. Suppose it be sawed into boards 
4" wide; we shall have 6 of these. If these 6 boards, 
each 4" wide, were placed edge to edge, they would 
make a floor 24" wide. This is why the rule says to 
multiply dimensions in inches together. But the stick 
is io' long ; consequently, the number of " board feet," 
or the number of " feet of lumber," would be 10 X 2 
board feet, or 20 feet of lumber in all. If a pupil is 
able to solve a few such problems as this and shows 
proficiency in manipulating the material and also in 
imaging the situation, he can solve practically any 
problem in lumber measure. The pupil should picture 
the above situation on the blackboard. 

(4) The Bushel. — We find in the arithmetics that a 
bushel contains 2150.42 cubic inches. Pupils take this 
for granted and seldom know whence it comes. It 
would be interesting and really valuable from the stand- 
point of clear thinking and clear picturing for the class 



Arithmetic: Advanced 201 

to know that the original Winchester bushel was a 
bronze or copper circular measure exactly i8| inches in 
diameter and 8 inches deep. Being able to figure out 
the area of the circle, the pupil can compute for himself 
the solid contents of such a bushel: he will find that 
the result is 2150.42 cubic inches. Again, the pupil 
should be required to draw a picture of this measure. 

(5) The Gallon. — The same may be said in regard to 
the gallon. The arithmetic says that it contains 231 
cubic inches. It will here be of interest to the pupil to 
learn that the original gallon was a rectangular cubical 
vessel 11 inches long, 7 inches wide, and 3 inches deep. 
The British government had such a standard measure 
constructed and called it a gallon. This will give a 
content of 231 cubic inches. Draw the picture. 

(6) Ambiguous Terms. — Pupils are often required to 
change Troy weight to avoirdupois, and vice versa. The 
difficulty in a problem of this kind is one of ambiguity 
of the terms ounce and pound. One ounce, avoirdu- 
pois, contains only 43 7! grains, while an ounce of 
Troy contains 480 grains ; hence the word ounce has 
two meanings, or values. The pound, avoirdupois, 
contains 7000 grains, while the Troy pound contains 
only 5760; hence the pound is likewise ambiguous. 
Clearness would have been subserved by using different 
words altogether. There are 16 of the (smaller) avoir- 
dupois ounces in an avoirdupois pound, and this will, of 
course, be more than the 12 Troy ounces in the Troy 
pound. The only way to change from one of these 
weights to the other is by going back to the common 
ground, the grain. We should go back upon the 



202 



Fundamentals in Methods 



avoirdupois track beyond the switch and then come up 
on the Troy track. It is as impossible to go from ounce 
to ounce or from pound to pound as it would be for a 
train to go from one track to another without going 
down to the common track beyond the switch. Vivid 
illustrations of this kind will always serve to clarify 
knowledge. Draw the illustrative picture on the board. 
The following would be one view : 



grains l oa.^ 480 ^- 



Tro^iH^---- T ^ 576 ogr. 



The Metric System. — It is unfortunate for us in this 
country that we did not adopt the metric system for all 
our weights and measures at an early date. The mental 
habits and customs of business and social life are now so 
firmly set that it will be difficult to change them. In the 
metric system the centimeter is the common ground, 
the source of the standards of measure. A cubic centi- 
meter of distilled water is a gram in weight and the 
common measure of translation to capacity in the liter. 
Being a decimal system, we may transfer from one 
denomination or system to another merely by moving 
the decimal point. It would be useless, we think, to 
spend much time in America teaching children the metric 
system, which does not have its roots in practical, every- 
day experiences and which, consequently, must remain 
merely theoretical for them. There would really be no 
good reason subserved in having the children of the 
nation spend time in mastering a theoretical system 



Arithmetic: Advanced 203 

that has no practical application in the life of most of 
them. When they come later to the laboratories as 
students they will be able to learn the metric system in 
a few days. 

The Commercial Part of Arithmetic. — In the whole 
subject of commercial arithmetic pupils are usually 
very much at sea. Under poor teaching they often 
remain under the impression that percentage is an 
entirely new subject-matter. It is not correlated with 
decimals or with common fractions and the pupils do 
not suspect their fundamental identity. It should be 
clearly shown to children that common fractions, dec- 
imals, and percentage are only three forms of the same 
process, and of the same kind of mental picturing. 
Pupils should be taught and required to change from 
one of these forms to the other ad libitum. A common 
fraction should be put into an equivalent decimal and 
then into its equivalent percentage form, and vice versa. 
Pupils should be taught to give the answer in the form 
required, but usually should be allowed to work the 
problems in the form which seems best and plainest to 
them. Interest is merely fractions, decimals, or per- 
centage applied to money matters : it means a 
certain fraction, part, or percentage of the whole amount 
lent or borrowed, allowed for its use. It does not differ 
at all, except in mere form, from a fractional part of 
anything else. Undoubtedly the reason why pupils 
do not seem as interested or as proficient in percentage 
or interest, or often in decimals as they are in ordinary 
common fractions, is that the former are becoming more 
and more remote from their actual, everyday expe- 



204 Fundamentals in Methods 

rience. In other words, they are proceeding outward 
to a field which is becoming more abstract for them. 

Allied to percentage and interest are such subjects as 
discounts, stocks and bonds, partial payments, etc. 
Much of such matter should be eliminated from texts 
altogether. The older texts used to treat at length of 
what they called true discount and bank discount. 
Such distinctions merely confuse. Whether justly or 
unjustly, such distinctions do not exist in prac- 
tice. It should be shown, of course, just what dis- 
counting a note means and how it is done in a bank. 
Work should not be piled upon work and problem upon 
problem in the working of discount merely for the 
practice; like merely formal activities in other fields, 
it then becomes an end instead of a means. When 
pupils grow more mature and when they have some 
experience in giving or taking, in buying or selling a 
note, they will learn more fully and clearly just what 
interest and discount mean. The same is true of stocks 
and bonds : children in the eighth grade do not know 
and can not possibly realize just what is meant by these. 
It requires more age, maturity, and experience, and 
when these come it will become evident to them that the 
buying or selling of stocks and bonds does not differ 
very much from the buying or selling of dry goods, 
groceries, or horses. It is because children do not 
realize what all of these transactions are that they be- 
come confused and dislike the whole subject of com- 
mercial arithmetic. It is vague and unintelligible to 
boys and girls of thirteen or fourteen years of age. Most 
of it should be eliminated from textbooks altogether. 



Arithmetic: Advanced 205 

The same is true of what is called Partial Payments. 
In the old books problems used to be put in which had 
to be solved according to various Rules by boys and 
girls in every western state : the Vermont Rule, the 
Connecticut Rule, the U. S. Rule, etc. Just think 
of compelling little boys and girls in Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, Iowa, or the Dakotas to spend days, weeks, 
and months solving problems by the Vermont or Con- 
necticut rule ! 

Ratio and Proportion. — Ratio and proportion are 
really worthy subjects of study. The idea of ratio is 
most valuable and should be concretely and carefully 
taught. There are many quite lengthy problems also 
which can be solved very easily by proportion, which 
would require a long and tedious operation by means 
of detailed analysis. There is no method of solving 
such problems in proportion better than that which 
may be called the method of cause and effect. In 
the author's experience it seems clear that children 
between twelve and fourteen years of age may be en- 
abled in a short time by careful cultivation to pick 
out what is cause and what is effect in a problem. This 
may require a slow building up of the sensing of what 
is causative and what is effected by such cause. If, 
then, children can select in a certain problem and situa- 
tion the causes and effects, they may then put them 
down in the following form : 

1 st causes : their effects : : 2nd causes : their effects 

Rule : The product of the extremes is always equal to 
the product of the means. 



2o6 Fundamentals in Methods 

The unknown term, or the required result, may then 
be easily secured. Here is another instance where it 
would be well to depend largely upon memory and the 
rule as stated above; otherwise, it will require a long, 
tedious process of analysis entirely beyond the compre- 
hension of childhood. If children can once sense the 
cause and effect, they will see the complete reasons 
for the processes later, and their understanding of the 
whole will grow with their growth and strengthen with 
their strength. In fact, it seems to the author that the 
only desirable result attained by problems in compound 
proportion is the ability to sense cause and effect. 
Because ratio and proportion are here mentioned as a 
somewhat pivotal topic for the teaching of cause and 
effect, and hence true thinking, it should not be inferred 
that the subject should be long drawn out. The end is 
attained when the pupils grasp and use such causal 
processes. 

Square and Cube Root. — It is probable that some 
attention should be given, in the most concrete way 
possible, to square and cube root. Here, again, the 
author believes that children can be given a fairly clear 
insight into the reason for both square and cube root 
by means of a square upon the blackboard and of cube 
root blocks. It is true that the memory will have to 
play a part here as it did in the multiplication table, in the 
inversion of the divisor in division of fractions and in 
proportion. It is an enviable achievement to be able 
to extract the square or the cube root, and a class may 
be worked up to a keen desire to accomplish the feat. 
The teacher should aid them, in every way possible, by 



Arithmetic: Advanced 207 

the law of reason, but at the same time should not 
ignore that extremely useful faculty, the memory. The 
conception of squares and cubes and of square and cube 
root is forced upon children, especially upon boys, in 
numerous concrete things and situations in their ex- 
perience. Such knowledge would " keep," no doubt, 
till revealed in algebra and geometry, but fascinating 
situations implying it occur prior to high school. Then, 
too, the pupil may never go to high school. Such knowl- 
edge may act as an interesting thought center for life. 
A short time on this might render better service than the 
long time now often spent with children on the intrica- 
cies of stocks, bonds, discounts, and other topics that 
interest or serve adults only. 

Wake up Mind. — Thruout the school life of 
children, interesting practical problems should be given 
to them for solution. Sometimes it is not entirely ob- 
jectionable to propound one which is in the nature of a 
slight puzzle, or knot. Such interesting and practical 
problems should be given, on the side, as a sort of special 
flavor, in connection with their most closely related 
subject. Such problems as carpeting, shingling, and 
stoning a well would be interesting to wrestle with and 
could be found practically applicable in the life of the 
pupils. To clear up concepts in percentage a problem 
like the following would be valuable : " If a milkman 
should put one gill of water in his quart measure, what 
percentage of fraudulent profit is he making? " This 
would raise quite a discussion as to whether the proper 
answer is one seventh or one eighth. Each side would 
be required to defend themselves against all objections 



208 Fundamentals in Methods 

and to give reasons for their faith. Problems like the 
foregoing would be centers of thought, both in school 
and for people in the neighborhood. A single problem 
that will arouse much discussion is preferable to a vast 
number that will elicit but little thought. 



CHAPTER XVI 

GEOGRAPHY 

Purpose of the Study. — The purpose of a knowledge 
of geography is to make one familiar with the world in 
which he lives, and somewhat at home, mentally, in 
important world situations. Geography means a knowl- 
edge of the earth. This knowledge is a substitute for the 
first-hand experience got by travel, and is to the latter as 
a picture is to the original. Every one desires and needs 
this knowledge and experience, even if second-hand and 
merely representative, of the world around him. Every 
person, in order to have what is called an education, must 
have made the world his own in a true sense. By imagina- 
tion each of us may have this second-hand but never- 
theless indispensable knowledge in regard to situations 
and peoples on the earth ; and for most of us this is the 
only kind of geographical experience possible. If one 
had the time and means at his disposal, the best way to 
learn geography would be by travel; but this is not 
possible to any great extent even for the few who have 
both means and leisure. 

First Knowledge of Geography Incidental and Corre- 
lated. — For the first few years of a child's fife and 
schooling, geographical knowledge comes, like many 
other things, incidentally and accidentally. During 
the first years of our school life many fields of knowledge 
are mixed and mingled. Geography is wrapped up 
p 209 



210 Fundamentals in Methods 

with reading, language work, spelling, writing, and 
our total experience. Our consciousness, or mind, has 
been geographized to a certain extent; that is, our 
bundle of experiences which we have acquired and 
which really has become ourselves has become colored, 
or tinged, geographically. All persons, before they 
have begun the systematic study of geography from the 
textbook, have become more or less cosmopolitanized. 
During the years from babyhood up to the fifth grade 
in school, children have asked all manner of questions 
in regard to the world and the peoples inhabiting it. 
Children have acquired a more or less definite concep- 
tion of the surface of the earth and its relations to man- 
kind. This is the way in which geography is acquired 
during these early years. It is the only way in which 
such knowledge should be imparted during the first 
few years in school. There should be no definite period 
each day in the early years for the teaching of geography. 
It is sometimes thought that unless the subject-matter 
is taught by system and by textbooks it is not being 
taught at all. But this idea is a mistake : the human 
mind is hungry and thirsty for knowledge during all 
its waking hours. A child is extremely inquisitive, and 
knowledge of every kind, geographical included, is being 
constantly absorbed and systematized. Consequently, 
when a systematic study of geography is begun in about 
the fifth grade, the child has an apperceptive mass by 
means of which he is enabled to interpret and proceed 
more scientifically. 

The Systematic Teaching of Geography. — But there 
comes a time when this subject should be treated more 



Geography 211 

systematically. Geography is a bundle of organized 
knowledge, and this knowledge can not be acquired to 
any extent, as was the case with language, in connection 
with other subjects. Language work was done in con- 
nection with reading, arithmetic, spelling, and in fact, 
in connection with every subject, for language is the 
form in which every subject is presented. But geog- 
raphy can not be acquired in this way, for it is a subject by 
itself; and the best way to study and present it sys- 
tematically is for the teacher and pupils to have a good 
textbook. Geography is the representative, in the 
elementary school, of the whole field of the natural 
sciences, which are to be investigated and studied more 
extensively in later years. Such an elementary text 
should be scientifically arranged and should have, in a 
high degree, the quality of interest. For this reason 
only the important things should be treated and these 
only in an elementary way. This elementary textbook 
could well be completed in one year, or in the fifth 
grade. 

The pupil should then return to the subject, in a 
kind of spiral manner, by means of a more comprehen- 
sive text during the sixth and seventh grades. The 
pupils would then make a deeper, more intensive, and 
more extensive study of geography. In connection with 
the textbooks supplementary readers should be used 
and books of travel of various kinds should be read 
and narrated. During these three years the pupils 
will have secured such a knowledge of geography as 
will make them feel somewhat at home mentally in 
regard to the surface of the earth and its relations to 



212 Fundamentals in Methods 

mankind. The pupils should have, after these three 
years of study a reasonably easy mind in this subject. 

As we are assuming that a good textbook is to be 
used as a foundation for the systematic teaching of 
geography, it is not our purpose in this discussion to 
give a detailed outline of either subject-matter or pro- 
cedure. We merely aim to bring to mind certain in- 
teresting features of geographical study that should 
not be forgot. These should be attended to at the 
right time and in the right place. We merely indicate 
dangerous places and open switches where pupils and 
teachers may become sidetracked. Our paragraphs 
are intended merely as fingerboards indicating the best 
road to the true geographical destination and possibly 
some side paths that might lead astray. 

The Proper Procedure. — Some one has said, para- 
phrasing the maxim on charity, that geography should 
begin at home; but maxims are frequently only half 
truths, and while the teaching of geography should 
begin at home, it should not extend outward consecutively 
from the home to the earth as a whole. What is really 
meant by beginning this study at home is that the child 
should be somewhat familiarized with the home sur- 
roundings first; that is, the larger features of these 
surroundings should first be noted. It would be a 
mistake, however, to study these home surroundings 
intensively before going outward extensively to other 
geographical fields. In fact, it would be a mistake to 
proceed, in any intensive way, from the study of the 
schoolhouse and grounds to a study of the township, 
the county, the state, and then of the nation, before 



Geography 213 

starting at the other end and securing a clear concep- 
tion of the world as a whole. What is nearest to us is 
not always clearest to us; what is nearest to us geo- 
graphically is not always nearest to us mentally. The 
Nile river is much nearer to most of us than is some 
obscure boundary of our county or state. Consequently, 
it is not geographical proximity that determines our 
procedure, but our psychical, or mental, proximity. The 
sequence also is not geographical alone but psychological 
as well. Consequently, teachers who drive the maxim 
of beginning at home and proceeding from there to an 
extreme, run counter to the laws of mind. Many 
maxims and rules are similarly carried to an extreme 
never dreamed of by those who first formulated them ; 
they are usually intended for a certain situation and 
when applied outside of these limits they become false- 
hoods rather than truths. Here is where the merely 
imitative, parrot-like teacher is likely to fail ; and it is 
here that a deeper insight into educational principles 
will save a teacher from the slavery of rules and maxims. 
Clear Picturing. — In our discussion on Reading we 
pointed out the necessity for clear and definite pictures 
in every subject. We fear that the lack of true imagina- 
tive pictures is the cause of much of the hazy knowledge 
of geography which we all possess. It has never been 
vital and much of what we learned has slipped away; 
most people remember but a small portion of the geo- 
graphical knowledge which they possessed at one time 
or another. This is due to the fact that much of it was 
unrelated and hence uninteresting, and most of it rela- 
tively unimportant. Much of the so-called knowledge 



214 Fundamentals in Methods 

which we have all possessed in regard to the thousand 
and one small places in obscure and foreign countries 
contained nothing vital; there were no interesting 
associations connected with such places. The conse- 
quence was that all of this obscure knowledge fell away 
from us. The time would have been better spent in 
making interesting some geographical facts of the first 
magnitude, and in establishing between these such 
relations as would make them our own for life. 

The Idea of Location. — Very early in their geo- 
graphical study all pupils should get a clear and dis- 
tinct picture of what is meant by location. Children 
should locate objects in a room by actual experience 
and describe such locations. They will then see that 
in order thus to locate an object, two lines must first be 
established. These two fines must, it will be seen, be 
perpendicular to each other. Any two lines may be 
chosen, as for example, the south and the east walls of 
the room. If the location of a tack is said to be ten 
feet from the south wall and seven feet from the east 
wall, it may easily be found : its location is indicated. 

The same is true in regard to locating a place upon 
the surface of the earth. Geographers, astronomers, 
navigators, and scientists generally have decided to 
take two lines corresponding to the walls of the room ; 
namely, the equator and a specified line running north 
and south, called the meridian of Greenwich. To 
locate a place, geographically, we then say it is so many 
degrees north or south of the equator and so many de- 
grees east or west of this meridian. This locates it on 
the globe. 



Geography 215 

The same process is seen in locating a tract of land 
in what is called a survey. Two lines must first be 
established, a base line and a principal meridian. The 
country north and west of this line, say, is then 
divided up into townships, sections, quarter sections, 
etc. The tiers, or rows, of townships running east and 
west are numbered from the base line northward, and 
are designated Town 1, Town 2, etc. ; and the tiers 
of townships running north and south are numbered 
from the principal meridian to westward and are 
called ranges. Likewise, the sections, or square miles, 
in each of these townships are numbered in a certain 
order, and hence any quarter section of land can be 
located definitely and accurately in the surveyed terri- 
tory. 

Such systems of locating things should be discussed 
carefully and minutely. Other methods of location 
should also be described, as, for instance, a river or a 
state in the Union. The teacher should see to it that 
the pupils have a very accurate imaginative picture of 
each situation and should be sure that the pupils are 
not deluding themselves with a half knowledge of the 
subject. 

The Idea of Direction. — The idea of direction should 
also be definitely impressed. Some people do not care, 
in traveling, whether they have the right direction in 
mind or not; being "turned around" does not seem 
to disconcert them in the least, for it is their usual con- 
dition. There are others who, by instinct or by culti- 
vation, have acquired a keen sense of direction and 
are always uneasy when they are, so to speak, lost 



216 Fundamentals in Methods 

in regard to directions in a strange city. It would be a 
good thing to make children conscious and sensitive of 
direction in studying geography. 

The Globe as a Whole. — Before the child has pro- 
ceeded outward very far from the study of home geog- 
raphy he should be introduced to the globe as a whole. 
He should learn clearly that the globe, which is before 
him, represents, or symbolizes, very accurately this 
earth on which we live. Most children hear very early 
in life that the earth is round and they wonder much 
as to how this can be. Their thoughts are probably 
crude in regard to the whole situation. This fact should 
be made a subject of considerable study and discussion 
when the class begins what we have called the system- 
atic study of geography. A good globe should be at 
hand, and this is preferable to the large and expensive 
tellurians made to sell, and on which unsophisticated 
school boards so frequently get " sold. " It would be 
well to have in addition a plain blackboard globe, so 
that representations made upon it might be erased at 
will and the globe left serviceable for other instruc- 
tion. 

Analysis as well as Synthesis. — Analysis is one of 
the first and most fundamental operations of the mind ; 
and so, instead of proceeding by synthesis from the 
home, outward to the geographical study of the globe 
itself, the other process, supplementary to it, of taking 
the globe as a whole and of analyzing it should soon 
be begun. It would be well, in handling the globe and 
in giving instruction from it, always to place it in its 
true and real position; that is, the north pole of the 



Geography 217 

globe should point toward the north star, which the 
children would then learn to know and to point out. 
Even if they can not get, at this age, a complete con- 
ception of the actual astronomical movements of the 
earth and its situation in the solar system, they can 
be made to see just how the earth moves, both on its 
axis and around the sun, the north pole remaining 
constantly toward the north star. The children can 
not help forming a more or less definite conception of 
the earth's situation, for all manner of questions will be 
suggested to the children and answered and illustrated 
by the teacher. 

Topics and Questions on the Globe. — The following 
topics should come up at the right time and place in 
connection with the earth, its position, and its move- 
ments. The teacher should be guided in the kind of 
topics to be given to the class for study and investiga- 
tion by their discussions from day to day. The following 
are merely samples which indicate, if properly answered, 
a real knowledge of our relations to the earth and of the 
earth's relations to day and night, the seasons, etc. : 

Question's 

(1) What is the shape of the earth? 
Discuss in full and make clear. 

(2) How do we know this ? 

All the reasons which the children can appreciate, brought 
forward by them or the teacher. 

(3) Why does the earth appear flat ? 

Here it can be shown that in a small circle placed upon the 
blackboard an arc of one inch is noticeably curved. If we should 
make the circle larger, it will be noticed that an arc of one inch is 



218 Fundamentals in Methods 

not so curved; and if we make the circle as large as our black- 
board will allow, the arc of one inch will appear straight. This 
will indicate the direction of the reasoning, in making children 
understand how it is that, altho the earth appears flat or 
straight, it may, in reality, be curved. 

(4) What do the terms up and down mean ? 

(5) The diameter of the earth ? 

All information in regard to the meaning of this is brought out, 
even the etymology of the word diameter. 

(6) The motions of the earth and the effects of each ? 

(7) The relative position of the earth in what is called the Solar 
System ? 

It would be well to represent in diagram the relative positions 
of the other planets and how they and the earth move around the 
sun. 

(8) If a person should stand at the north pole and throw a stone 
at an object located near by, in what direction would he throw 
the stone? 

Such a question will always raise discussion, and this always 
leads to a more comprehensive understanding. 

(9) Would right straight thru the earth find us in China? 

A discussion of this question will always clear up the pupils' 
knowledge of the earth's situation. 

(10) Terms: Such topics as pole, axis, equator, tropics, polar 
circles, meridians, etc., should be discussed so that the pupils 
would have as clear pictures of these as they have of any 
objects with which they are familiar. 
It would guard against such obscure knowledge as the boy had 
who said that the equator was a "menagerie lion running around 
the earth"! 
(n) How many meridians are there? 

The discussion of this question should lead to a clear conception 
of meridians and their use. 

(12) Why are the tropics and the polar circles placed where they 
are? 



Geography 219 

Here the question might be raised as to whether or not these 
could be placed elsewhere if people should agree to do so. Their 
location can be illustrated very clearly by the globe. If necessary 
this should be done at night when the lamp may be lighted to rep- 
resent the sun. In discussing and answering this question full 
information can be obtained in regard to the width of the so-called 
zones. 

(13) Why is the polar diameter of the earth shorter than the 
equatorial ? 

The answer to this will give the pupils an interesting piece of 
information in regard to the past ages of the earth. It will give a 
terrestrial vision. 

(14) How far around the earth is it at the equator? 
Here is an opportunity for correlation with arithmetic. 

(15) Why do not people fall off the earth? 

This should bring about much thoughtful interchange of 
knowledge and a clear understanding of our relation to the earth. 
Here the terms up and down will find their full meaning. 

(16) How high is the atmosphere? 

In regard to this it might be asked whether the earth turns 
around in this atmosphere or whether the atmosphere moves with 
the earth, to see how pupils think the situation. 

(17) Why is it cold on the top of a mountain? 

Much clear knowledge might be the result of this discussion. 

(18) Is the north star in the same direction in the daytime as it 
is at night ? 

Relative Magnitudes of Geographical Facts. — A dis- 
tinction should be made everywhere in geography be- 
tween what might be called facts of the first magnitude 
and facts of lesser magnitudes. In the neglect of this 
lies much of the trouble with geography teaching; 
usually no such distinction is made and all the facts 
are one vast jumble of equal things and a mere aggre- 



220 Fundamentals in Methods 

gation of memorized statements. The consequence is 
that we have a very uneasy mind in the subject of 
geography. 

The writer, for example, would not fear an examina- 
tion in arithmetic or grammar, for in these fields he 
could move from one thing to another by reasoning; 
he has an easy mind in regard to these subjects; 
he would be willing to carry, so to speak, a kind of 
grammatical chip on his shoulder. But in regard to 
the subject of geography he has a very uneasy mind, 
for he would be apprehensive lest facts of the tenth 
magnitude or the hundredth magnitude might be asked 
in the examination and he would be graded as if such 
matters were of primary importance. In geography 
what is valuable to one person may be of little value 
to another. It is often just as well to know where to 
find some things as it is to know these things them- 
selves; and unless a person were a very reasonable 
examiner, the examinee, no matter how well versed he 
were in the chief things of the earth, might be caught 
in regard to a geographical location and situation in 
some foreign country with which he has had no occasion 
to deal. 

Mere Isolated and Barren Facts. — For most children 
and for most people, geographical places, rivers, etc., 
are only dots or lines upon a map. This must necessarily 
be the case in regard to most places upon the earth, 
for a person would have to spend his whole life traveling 
to have it otherwise. Only the important places, rivers, 
etc., should really be required in geography, and then 
the most interesting and important information in regard 



Geography 221 

to them should be made known. The place should be 
made to live in our minds and should not be left a mere 
dot upon the map. So much of what is called sailor 
geography has been taught to children that all that is 
known of most geographical places is that they are 
located within a certain territory. It would be better 
if ninety-nine hundredths of all such facts were omitted 
and the other one hundredth were made interesting and 
essential in our geographical world of thought and dis- 
course. Cases have been known where children have 
thought that certain states were naturally colored in a 
certain way because they were so represented on the 
map! 

Some Dependence on Memory. — It is true that many 
important things will have to be learned by memory and 
thus held for future enrichment unless we can spend 
all our time traveling. This is true in every subject 
of study. A child's memory is strong and tenacious 
and can hold the forms of many important things, which 
will be filled in later by supplementary knowledge and 
interesting experiences. It would not be good pedagogy 
to say that because a child can not learn everything 
now about a city, therefore the city should not be 
named or discussed at all. We must not forget the 
power of a tenacious memory. 

Reason in Geography. — But we should teach the 
relation of cause and effect in geography as elsewhere. 
If a class were discussing the city of Minneapolis, it 
would not be sufficient to locate it in eastern Minnesota 
upon the Mississippi river. There is so much fruitful 
material available that Minneapolis might be made 



222 Fundamentals in Methods 

extremely interesting. It could be made to stand out 
and live in the child's mind. The question should be 
raised as to why Minneapolis has grown so rapidly. 
The children should bring forth all the reasons which 
occur to them. Many interesting truths in regard to 
it would come out in the discussion : 

Minneapolis is not on a navigable stream; conse- 
quently, navigation would not be one of the reasons for 
its growth. This could be given in favor of the growth 
of St. Paul, but it certainly can not be given for Minne- 
apolis. The class would have to cast about for other 
reasons. 

Some one might mention the fact that the State 
University is located there. This would certainly be 
one reason, for it brings to the city thousands of students 
every year who spend hundreds of thousands if not 
millions of dollars in that city. An educational institu- 
tion like the State University adds to the city, financially, 
socially, intellectually, and in every other way, and 
makes it a desirable place to live. Parents move there 
in order to have their sons and daughters educated. 
And so the teacher and the class might go on showing 
what the University would do toward the growth of 
Minneapolis. 

Some pupil might mention the great flour mills as a 
factor in the growth of Minneapolis ; and then the ques- 
tion would be raised as to why the flour mills are located 
there. It would be noted that west of Minneapolis, 
in Minnesota and in the Dakotas, is what has been 
called the " bread basket of the world " — the great 
wheat fields of the Northwest. It will also be observed 



Geograp hy 223 

that right in Minneapolis are the Falls of St. Anthony, 
furnishing wonderful water power. Discussion would 
then bring forth the necessity for the manufacture of a 
number of other things in connection with the manufac- 
ture of flour, such as barrels, sacks, tools, machinery, etc. 

Some other pupil might know of Minneapolis as a 
lumber center, and this could be related on the one hand 
with the Falls (water power) and, on the other, with the 
great pine regions northwest of Minneapolis and acces- 
sible to it by means of rivers and railroads. It will be 
clearly seen that such manufacturing establishments 
would bring to Minneapolis thousands of men and their 
families and thus add to the growth and diversity of the 
city. 

Then, too, looked at from a geographical point of 
view, it will be seen that Minneapolis is in a direct line 
between the great, fertile Northwest, both in the United 
States and in Canada on the one hand, and the eastern 
centers of trade and commerce on the other. 

Thus the discussion might go on until Minneapolis 
would be the object of much interest. It would, too, be 
the center of a system of knowledge which has been 
correlated with it. 

Map Drawing. — The pupils should be taught to draw 
maps in the right way. By the old method pupils 
were taught to put upon the blackboard a form, or 
framework, of construction lines, or a system of measure- 
ments which had to be first learned by the pupil ; and 
after this had been carefully drawn the pupil was taught 
to draw the map upon it. When the writer was a boy 
he put upon the board in this way a map of South 



224 Fundamentals in Methods 

America which took him some two or three weeks to 
complete. It was left standing during the term, either 
as an example or as a warning — he has never been able 
to figure out which. This was a great waste of time, 
without any useful result. When a map is drawn in this 
way the form of the map and most of its parts depend 
upon the retention in memory of the measurements of 
the framework, and when these numerous measurements 
are forgotten (as they surely will be) the map will dis- 
appear also. 

Now, the sole purpose of putting a map upon a board 
is to present to somebody else, with reasonable accuracy 
and in a short time, a representation of the country or 
district under consideration. A pupil should be able 
to do this in a few minutes or even in a few seconds, 
and as soon as the purpose has been attained the map 
might well be erased. 

A child, too, will learn the form of a section of country, 
such as a state or a county, in a very short time — as 
quickly as he will learn the form of a word or a face. 
There is no reason why a framework of construction 
lines should first be drawn. If we put a picture of an 
object upon the board, any person familiar with it can 
tell at once whether it has the right shape or not. 
So it should be with the map of a state : we should be 
able to draw it offhand and free-hand, and to do so in a 
short time. On this map all the important things and 
these only should be placed, free-hand. Nothing should 
be put on this map that can not be named. It frequently 
happens that when children draw a map and put in the 
rivers, they indicate all kinds of little branches that do 



Geography 225 

not exist at all. They seem to think that they must fill 
out the picture artistically, as if it were the drawing of 
an ideal tree and did not make any difference whether 
or not they put in a few more branches. But in a 
geographical map everything should be definite and 
true. It would be better to omit all details that are 
not necessary and to put upon the map only what is 
under consideration or what we wish to call atten- 
tion to. 

Relative Sizes and Distances. — The relative size 
of states or of countries and relative distances should 
be carefully noted. We should not allow children to 
carry with them the impression that New York is about 
as big as Texas. In making maps, until the conception 
is clear, a small state should be drawn upon a small 
scale and a large state upon a large scale; otherwise, 
distorted pictures will remain in the mind. The same is 
true of distances. It is farther from Chicago to New 
York than it is from London to Rome, and yet few of us 
think it in that way. It is farther from New Orleans to 
New York than from London to Jerusalem; and yet 
thousands of people pass every day from New York to 
New Orleans, while very few indeed go back and forth 
between London and Jersualem. If the state of Rhode 
Island were placed in the center of Cass county, North 
Dakota, there would still be a walk six miles wide all 
around it. About two hundred and fifty states of the 
size of Rhode Island could be carved out of Texas alone. 
I mention a few of these simple facts to indicate that 
relative size should be called to mind continually in 
teaching geography. 



226 Fundamentals in Methods 

Other Helps. — In order to make mental pictures 
vivid the school should have a good supply of books of 
travel, of stereopticon slides, and of apparatus of different 
kinds. Knowledge at first hand is the best kind, but 
clear representative knowledge comes next. The school 
board who disciplined the teacher because she took her 
class to see a mill near by, in order that they might 
have first-hand experience, little understood the teach- 
ing of geography, or indeed, pedagogy or psychology of 
any kind. In fact, a teacher of geography should, when- 
ever possible, and in every way possible, visit all the 
places and things of interest in the surrounding country, 
such as near-by towns and cities, factories, mills, etc. 
These things enrich and concrete the experience of 
pupils ; they throw interesting sidelights upon the sub- 
ject; they correlate it with others and give a base of 
operations for further con quests and progress. 

An Outline. — In the study and teaching of any unit of 

territory, such as a state, some outline should be in mind 

and every topic should be fully developed. We suggest the 

following as a sample, which may be varied according to 

needs : 

(i) Position 

(a) on the globe 

(b) in the United States 

(2) Size and shape (comparative size) 

(3) Surface and drainage 

(4) Soil 

(5) Climate 

(6) Productions: 

(a) vegetable 

(b) animal 

(c) mineral 



Geography 227 

(7) Occupations 

(8) People 

(9) History (in short) 

(10) Government (in its principal outline and function) 

(11) Institutions 

(12) Its map (free-hand and offhand) 

(a) principal rivers and lakes 

(b) principal railroads 

(c) mountains, and elevations above sea level 

(d) scale 

Practical Applications. — Before pupils drop the sub- 
ject of geography at the end of the seventh grade they 
should have a comprehensive knowledge of where the 
various things that are found around us and upon our 
tables, come from. The following is a short list of 
articles which should be associated with the places 
where they are found or produced : 

Oysters, petroleum, lumber, flour, cotton (raw), cotton 
(manufactured), sugar, coffee, tea, cocoa, silk, wines, 
leather, tobacco, woolen goods, paper, spices, dates, 
figs, fruits, linen, furs, coal, iron, gold, silver, musical 
instruments, rice. 

Pupils should also be able to tell in a fairly accurate 
way the cargoes that ships would carry between the great 
commercial ports of the world and return ; as for exam- 
ple : from New Orleans to Paris ; from Baltimore 
to India ; from Charleston to Madrid ; from Boston to 
Mobile; from Philadelphia to Rio Janeiro; from San 
Francisco to Sitka; Duluth to Cleveland; Fargo to 
Chicago; St. Louis to New Orleans; New York to 
China or Japan. 



CHAPTER XVII 

HISTORY 

At First Wrapped up with Reading. — As is the case 
with practically every subject in the elementary school 
curriculum, history is at first and for several years 
wrapped up with reading and literature. It does not 
emerge as a separate subject of study until probably 
the sixth or seventh grade. Prior to that time children 
have heard, in the home and in the school, stories of 
discoveries and explorations, anecdotes in regard to the 
lives of great men, and numerous incidents in the history 
of their own state and locality. They have probably 
read simple biographies of people in military and civil 
life who have become ideals to them. In their reading 
books and in their choice of selections to be read in 
class, they have come across innumerable historical 
references and allusions which have been made plain 
either by the teacher or by their own reading and 
inquiry ; and so history is usually correlated with read- 
ing and literature for several years. The pupils have 
been studying history without being really aware of the 
fact. This for children — and indeed for adults — is 
probably the best method of education. When a sub- 
ject has been absorbed, so to speak, slowly and naturally, 
it then becomes a part of ourselves all the more effectu- 
ally. And so, during the primary and intermediate 
grades children have been forming for themselves an 

228 



History 229 

historical apperceptive mass to be used later on in the 
systematic study of the subject. 

The Beginning and Sequence. — History, like geog- 
raphy and, indeed, every other subject of study, should, 
like charity, begin at home. At home, as we saw in 
the discussion of geography, does not always mean 
what is nearest to us in space, but rather what is nearest 
to us mentally. Consequently, interest plays a great 
part in determining what is psychically near to us. 
Children in the United States naturally begin the sys- 
tematic study of history with that of their own country ; 
children in England begin with English history; in 
France, with French history; and in China, with the 
history of the Chinese nation. From the study of the 
history of his own country the pupil moves outward to 
the history of those peoples and nations most directly 
and vitally related to his own. The sequence, con- 
sequently, in history is psychological rather than chrono- 
logical or logical. If the latter were the case, the proper 
way would be to begin with the history of the first known 
peoples — with ancient history, beginning as far back 
as there are any records available, and then coming on 
down the stream of time, investigating and discussing 
the various influences which have been at work in the 
world. But to start thus would be to impose upon a 
child a subject which is remote from his interests and 
from any knowledge that he now possesses. He could 
not correlate this ancient history with his own experi- 
ences and with the information which he already has in 
regard to those who have been factors in the making of 
the history of his own country. 



230 Fundamentals in Methods 

Use a Good Text. — When pupils begin the systematic 
study of history, probably in the seventh grade, a good 
text should be chosen. In this subject a textbook is 
absolutely essential, for the teacher is not, supposedly, 
a specialist in history. Those who have thought out 
the subject and who have devoted their lives to it have 
organized the subject-matter for us, and it would be 
pedantic to ignore their experiences, their learning, and 
their labors, and to attempt to do again in our own small 
way what has been better done by masters, a hundred 
times before. In this respect the teaching of history is 
altogether different from the teaching of language; for 
history, like geography, is a systematized bundle of 
knowledge which can not be acquired in connection with 
other subjects, while language is the form which embodies 
every subject-matter and which should, therefore, 
receive its due share of attention everywhere. 

While history can never be completed, an elementary 
treatment of United States history may be given and a 
reasonable elementary understanding of it may be se- 
cured in two years, with well-chosen material, a good 
textbook, and an enthusiastic and efficient teacher. 
Consequently, at the end of the eighth grade a child 
should have a fairly comprehensive grasp of the history 
of our own country. 

Correlation by Side Excursions. — In the teaching of 
history, side excursions may well be taken into inter- 
esting fields of knowledge directly related to this subject. 
Civil government is one of those fields into which we 
could profitably make frequent excursions of this kind. 
Civics and history are so closely allied that it is impossible 



History 231 

to tell where one ends and the other begins. A teacher 
should never hesitate to tarry by the wayside in order 
to supplement the historical knowledge of his pupils 
by information in cognate fields. This is always mu- 
tually supporting and supplementary to each subject. 
Side lines and issues always lend interest and support 
to the main line under consideration. The teacher, of 
course, should see to it that he and his class do not get 
lost in the wilderness. The teacher of discretion is 
always able to tell when the side excursion should end 
and when the return should be made to the main road. 
The habit of losing the thread of one's discourse, of los- 
ing one's road, is a common one with many speakers, 
preachers, and teachers. But, like every good thing, 
because side-excursions are sometimes abused is no 
reason why they should not be used with discretion. 
Leaving the highway and going into the byways to note 
interesting and relevant facts is always indicative of a 
good teacher, and is in line with the natural process of 
education and growth. 

Geography, the Handmaid of History. — In the teach- 
ing of history, geography should receive much attention. 
It is the handmaid of history. The two should be closely 
correlated. Geography is a local phase of social move- 
ments, while history is a temporal phase. It is geography 
that gives to historical events " a local habitation," if 
not a name. It is in the subject of history that the 
pupil finds the study of geography of vital and practical 
use; it is here that he finds the geographical tool of 
service to him. In reading an account of a war or a 
battle or of The Hague Conference, we wish to know 



232 Fundamentals in Methods 

where each is, on the map. Consequently, in the study 
of history a teacher should see to it that pupils have a 
clear and definite conception of the country or the 
locality connected with the movement or event under 
consideration. It too often happens that children, 
after studying historical movements, such as the great 
campaigns of a period, do not know, often, with any 
definiteness, just where such events took place. In 
such cases geography is neglected; the pupils form no 
conception of the topography of the country under con- 
sideration. The whole situation is indefinite, obscure, 
and hazy ; it is " up in the air " — nowhere. Such 
knowledge is of little value. A few historical facts or 
situations of the first magnitude, well and clearly under- 
stood in their principal relations, would be incompar- 
ably better than a host of unrelated facts, all left in this 
indefinite condition. 

Kings and Wars too Prominent. — The old-time text- 
books in United States history were altogether too 
military in their treatment. In fact, history from time 
immemorial has been written from a military point of 
view or from that of court life. These two points of 
view have always been closely related. Wars have fre- 
quently been the game of kings, and their peoples have 
been merely pawns that have been moved, in different 
directions for the defense or aggrandizement of thrones. 
The writers of history have been most interested in 
military life, in kings, dynasties, and aristocracies. 
It is true that, for all children, a military or warlike 
aspect of history is attractive and interesting. Combat 
and struggle appeal to them and it is probable that 



History 233 

writers of history have not only moved along the line 
of least resistance, but have, in a measure, supplied a 
demand. But history of this kind is only a skeleton 
form : a kind of skull and crossbones. 

History not "a Narrative of Events." — History is 
often conceived of as a narrative of events. Such a 
conception indicates merely a surface view of history, 
for an " event " is something that crops out and the 
narration of such events would be merely the arranging 
of these like beads upon a string. In the pupil's mind 
one of these events was connected with another only in a 
superficial way; there was no underlying natural rela- 
tion, no connecting link, no mutual causation between 
the two. Such a grasp and conception would scarcely 
be history at all; it is too superficial. Concealed be- 
neath are great social forces which play upon one another 
and occasionally come to the surface in events. It is 
these social forces underneath — ■ the real life of the 
people — that constitute the fundamental subject-matter 
of history. All the great battles (which are mere events 
in history) had been previously fought out, in a kind 
of way, around the family firesides of the nations in- 
volved. Humanity is a great seething caldron of forces 
interplaying upon one another and causing, at particular 
times and places, events to appear on the surface. 

Should not be too Philosophical. — While the old- 
time histories dwelt too much upon kings and wars, 
there is probably a danger, in the newer histories, of 
going too far in a philosophical and sociological direction. 
Children are much interested in spectacular events. 
The pugnacious instincts play no small part in the 



234 Fundamentals in Methods 

child's life, and consequently he is greatly interested 
in contests, struggles, battles, campaigns, armies, and 
navies. It is probable that histories which go too far 
below the surface and discuss, in a somewhat philo- 
sophical way, the forces which play between the units of 
society, whether in family, tribe, or nation, are likely 
to be too abstract for the youthful mind. Some United 
States histories have appeared which are so philosophical 
and sociological in their treatment that children are 
repelled by them. They are analogous to Browning as 
an author prescribed for children's reading in the fifth 
grade. Lengthy discussions of causation, which are 
particularly abstract to the child, find no appeal in his 
experiences and are, to a great extent, lost upon him. 

The Golden Mean. — The best method would be a 
happy combination of the history of struggles and 
events, on the one hand, with a reasonably elementary 
sociological treatment, on the other. While persons 
interested in kings and wars have been the writers of 
our histories in the past, it too frequently happens now 
that our authors are specialists who have spent years on 
problems of research and on deeper investigations which 
are of interest only to those of similar situations and 
attainments. The research specialist is likely to go to 
an extreme in this direction, as the military writer did, 
in the other. 

Facts and Principles of First Magnitude. — As in 
geography, minute details in history are not of much 
significance to the child of twelve or fourteen years of 
age. What he needs is great, vivid pictures in the large. 
He should be acquainted during the two or three years 



History 235 

of his biographical and historical study, with the great 
highways in the history of his country; and it is a 
mistake to attempt to acquaint him with all the byways 
and paths leading outward from these highways. In 
later years, as his knowledge increases in this and in all 
related fields, he will investigate many of these byways 
for himself. In history, as in other subjects, the teacher 
should carefully distinguish between facts of the first 
or second magnitude and those of the tenth or fiftieth 
magnitude. As in geography, there are likewise in- 
numerable facts in history which, for a child of this age, 
it were better not to attempt to learn : it is sufficient to 
know where to find such small, unimportant facts. 
Teachers often have their pupils commit to memory a 
host of names and dates without enriching them in such 
a way as to make them either interesting or useful. 
Such history teaching is analogous to what is called 
sailor geography in the teaching of that subject. 

Memorizing History. — In regard to the proper part 
which memory should play in the study of history, two 
extremes confront us. While the teacher of former days 
went to one extreme in the wholesale memorizing of 
facts, of names, and of dates, without enriching them, 
some teachers of to-day are adopting the practice of not 
having children memorize the names and dates of even 
the most important historical happenings. This is 
ignoring the value of memory. Children should hold in 
memory many important forms in every subject of 
study, which later life and experience will fill in and 
enrich. Consequently, all important events and all 
important dates should be memorized as definitely as the 



236 Fundamentals in Methods 

multiplication table was in arithmetic, so that when the 
name of the event comes to mind the date comes also, 
and vice versa. This is of untold advantage in later life. 
Every person should have well-defined landmarks in 
the thought system of each subject of study. These 
will serve as signs or finger boards along the highway. 
They will be to him the stakes and monuments by means 
of which he can find his location and direction at any 
time. To have no such centers of orientation, con- 
sciously and definitely in mind, is to have a dark his- 
torical world, a world of historical chaos. Even if 
these names and dates are not philosophically and 
sociologically enriched, they become centers of ever- 
increasing knowledge and interest. They give us our 
bearing and our direction at once and they give us a 
feeling of satisfaction and of security in the midst of a 
more or less chaotic field which surrounds all of us. 

History and Patriotism. — History offers a great 
opportunity for the teaching of patriotism. This, in its 
beginnings, may be only a " Hurrah for our side ! " 
But this partisan feeling may exist whether " our side " 
be right or wrong. History offers a good opportunity, 
then, to teach a moral patriotism. There are also 
numerous and excellent occasions for the correlation of 
history with reading and literature. Many gems of 
poetry and of prose, breathing the spirit of true patriot- 
ism, should be read in connection with the study of United 
States history. In the saying, " Let me write the 
songs of the nation and I care not who makes her laws," 
there is much truth, for the songs and poems of a nation 
breathe a people's spirit. And it is the spirit of a people 



History 237 

and not their particular acts that is of most value. 
We would recommend that pupils in the history class 
commit to memory all such poems as America, Scott's 
Love of Country, Longfellow's The Union, Holmes's 
Flower of Liberty, and numerous others like them. 

Ideals and History. — In the study of United States 
history there is also an excellent opportunity to imbue 
pupils' minds with high ideals. The study of great 
heroes, both in military and civil life, will unconsciously 
establish wholesome ideals in the minds of the children. 
This is of inestimable value, for it is a law of life to 
grow like unto our ideals. The virtues of chivalry, of 
justice, and of toleration can be instilled in the study of 
wars and of controversies. Children should not be left 
with the idea that there has been only one side to every 
one of our national quarrels, and that we have always 
been on the right side. The reasons and arguments for 
the other side should be fairly and squarely presented, 
so far as we can get them. Pupils should acquire the 
conception and the feeling of putting themselves in the 
other person's place — of seeing themselves as others see 
them. There is probably no greater virtue to instill 
into the minds of children than that of toleration for 
other persons' opinions. People should be able to dis- 
agree in their judgments and yet remain friends. This 
is one of the great lessons which history should teach. 
Children should and can be made to realize early in 
life that there are others. It will depend, however, in 
large measure upon the spirit, the attitude, and the treat- 
ment of the historical subjects by the teacher; conse- 
quently, it is essential that teachers be open-minded, 



238 Fundamentals in Methods 

intelligent, fair, tolerant, and sympathetic, and that 
they breathe this spirit in their teaching of history. 

Is History " True "■ ? — Pupils should be made to see 
that there is no historical account of anything that has 
ever happened, that is absolutely true in all its details. 
No two witnesses of any event will tell exactly the same 
story. No two soldiers or officers, even, on the same 
side in a battle, would write the same historical account 
of it. It is absolutely impossible to tell the whole truth 
and nothing but the truth. It frequently happens, as 
Macaulay has said, that " one writer will tell less truth 
merely because he tells more truths." Consequently, an 
account by a particular historian of the battle of Gettys- 
burg may not be true in its details. A southern his- 
torian does not see it as a northern historian does ; and 
it behooves us to be open-minded and to hold ourselves 
ready to change our verdict if new facts should come to 
light. It is this spirit of open-mindedness as well as of 
truthfulness, of justice and of charity, which should be 
instilled in every lesson in history teaching. 

Method and Results. — We shall not go into a dis- 
cussion here as to whether it is better to treat of all the 
different social currents in our history, up to a certain 
date, before investigating any one of them further; in 
other words, whether it is better to drive all of our his- 
torical horses abreast, or to drive some of them tandem. 
We would lay down no rule in regard to this. It might 
be well to change at times from one method of procedure 
to another. 

Grasp of Movements in the Large : Samples. — But 
there are many topics concerning which the pupil should 



History 239 

have a fairly complete and comprehensive grasp when 
he has completed United States history in the eighth 
grade; that is, he should have an elementary under- 
standing of such topics in their main outline and in true 
perspective. A few samples would be as follows : 

1. Our territorial growth. 

Here the pupil should be able to go back and give our acquisi- 
tions of territory, and the occasions and circumstances surround- 
ing their purchase. 

2. The growth of our population. 

Here he should be able to explain the spread of our population 
westward across the Alleghanies from our earliest settlements 
on the Atlantic coast, and to correlate our population with our 
growth in territory as the generations and decades went by. He 
should understand the movement of population from foreign 
countries and the portions of our country in which different 
nationalities have settled. He should also be able to correlate 
with this information, the influences which each class of people 
has had upon our history. 

3. The industrial and commercial progress of our country. 

The pupil should be able to trace this in an elementary but 
definite way. 

4. The growth of our science and literature. 

He should have gained some knowledge of, and thus have an 
adequate tho elementary conception of this topic, according 
to his age and ability. In his reading he has been introduced, 
as we saw, to selections in literature from all our great authors. 
He would, of course, be interested in scientific inventions and 
discoveries and should have been made acquainted with art in 
its chief outlines. 

5. The growth of political parties and religious freedom. 

These would be interesting topics to have investigated and 
reported in systematic form. Great lessons in political and re- 
ligious toleration might well be taught here and the impression 



240 Fundamentals in Methods 

left upon the youthful mind that two things are especially re- 
pugnant to American thought and life, composed as we are of 
people of different races, nationalities, and religions; namely, 
extreme political partisanship and religious animosity. 

6. Slavery. 

It should appear at the end of the eighth grade that slavery 
has been the cause of discussion, of controversy, and of war from 
the time when slaves were landed upon our shores until the present 
time. Slavery is the thread on which nearly all our historical 
problems have been strung. Every pupil should be able to give 
an elementary summary or true account of the growth and decline 
of slavery, with the great conflicts that have been caused by it. 

7. The Peace Movement. 

School children should be imbued with the spirit of the Peace 
Movement. War has been, from time immemorial up to within 
a hundred years ago, the great business of mankind. Literally 
speaking, the chief occupation of man in ages past has been cutting 
one another's throats. With the growth of education and civili- 
zation thruout the earth, war in the twentieth century should be- 
come a thing of the past, notwithstanding the present deplorable 
explosion in Europe. All the peoples of the earth are brought 
closer together by the innumerable facilities for communication 
and transportation which now exist. Great ocean greyhounds 
cross the Atlantic in five days ; time and distance are practically 
annihilated by the railroads, the telegraph, the telephone, the 
automobile, the flying machines, and wireless telegraphy. Peoples 
are brought closer together and as soon as they come to know one 
another they become friends. Even the Great War can not 
nullify this tendency and law. The subject of peace should be 
presented so clearly, sympathetically, and suggestively that 
children would become advocates of the peace movement. It is 
hoped that the rising generation may be imbued with the thought 
and the wish that the day may come "when the sword of inter- 
national warfare may be laid upon the table of international 
arbitration." 



CHAPTER XVIII 

HYGIENE 

Importance. — Hygiene is one of the most important 
subjects of the elementary school; for health, after all, 
is of more vital importance to human beings than any 
amount of knowledge or any degree of intellectual 
attainment. If it be true that it proflteth a man little to 
gain the whole world and lose his own soul, it is likewise 
true that it proflteth little to gain all knowledge and lose 
our health. And yet it is true that we are all somewhat 
oblivious of many things that are of vital importance, 
such as fresh air, sunlight, friends, contentment in our 
work, and physical health. When we are deprived of 
any of these, we are brought to a realizing sense of our 
great loss. 

Hygiene Taught Topically. — The subject of hygiene 
may be best presented in oral form and at opportune 
times rather than by means of a regular textbook and 
set recitation periods. This is especially true in the 
lower grades. In the elementary school it is hygiene 
rather than physiology that should receive the emphasis, 
and there are so many problems forced upon our notice 
every day which could be treated with interest and profit 
in an oral and informal manner that a textbook would 
be in the way most of the time rather than be of any 
service to the teacher or to the pupils. After the subject 
r 241 



242 Fundamentals in Methods 

has been thus presented in the primary and intermediate 
grades it would probably be advantageous to round it out 
by a more consecutive and systematic study of a good 
textbook on physiology and hygiene. 

Not Anatomy. — A generation or more ago when the 
schools began to act upon the adage that " The proper 
study of mankind is man," teachers began their instruc- 
tion, not with hygiene, or even with physiology, but with 
the dry bones of anatomy. Pupils " named all their 
bones " and spent days and weeks upon the study of the 
structure of the human body. Such knowledge was of 
practically no use in real life, for none of it could be 
applied by the layman. Details of human anatomy were 
discussed which are known only to the physician, and 
indeed, which are forgotten by most doctors after they 
have left the medical school. Knowledge of this kind 
remains dead in the minds of children. 

Nor Physiology. — A little later it was customary to 
make an extensive and intensive study of physiology, 
and systematic textbooks were introduced as low as 
the fifth and even the fourth grade. With the knowledge 
of anatomy and physiology thus obtained, pupils lived the 
same unhygienic lives as before; there was little or no 
fruitage in after years. The knowledge of anatomy and 
of physiology did not seem to function. It stopped 
short of the real valuable information which would 
result, in after years, in the maintenance of health and 
strength. 

Knowing and Doing. — It is one of the lamentable 
facts connected with knowledge in all fields that it is 
not always or indeed often translated into conduct. 



Hygiene 243 

Everywhere we find theory without practice. Knowing 
and doing seem to be, to a great extent, divorced. And 
yet the chief reason, if not the only reason why we 
acquire knowledge, is that it may be of use or of service 
to us in some way in actual life. Knowledge is not an 
end but a means. The knowledge which a pupil should 
acquire in regard to his body and its functions should 
have as its end and aim good health and a wholesome life 
generally. 

Hygiene. — It is not, as we said, a knowledge of 
anatomy or of physiology, on the part of the child, that 
leads to the preservation of health and strength. This 
is the specific field and function of hygiene, which has 
its roots, not in anatomy, nor in physiology chiefly, but 
in common knowledge, common sense, and common 
experience. There are hundreds of topics in hygiene 
which could be discussed, explained, and illustrated 
from the experiences of everyday life which need but the 
most elementary knowledge of physiology and anatomy 
as such. These are the topics that could well form the 
subject-matter for the teaching of hygiene without a 
text, thruout most of the elementary school. These 
subjects force themselves on us from day to day and 
could well be taken up one by one and presented clearly 
and forcefully to the pupils. 

Clear Presentation. — In this, as in all subjects, a 
clear understanding on the part of the pupil and hence a 
clear presentation on the part of the teacher are essential 
to good results. Here, as elsewhere, hazy knowledge 
counts for little ; it is clear, definite pictures that result 
in action and in conduct. A clear understanding on the 



244 Fundamentals in Methods 

part of the pupils will tend strongly to express itself in 
actual life. A definite idea, a clear, imaginative picture, 
impresses itself, works itself out, and realizes itself in 
conduct and in life. And hence if each topic be pre- 
sented in such a definite way that it will really awaken 
and impress the children and produce in them good 
resolutions, the end will have been accomplished. It 
will be impossible for them to forget knowledge of this 
kind, and hence they will be continually urged by sug- 
gestion to do what is hygienic and to avoid what has 
been shown to be harmful. 

The chief aim in the presentation of every topic 
should be to make it so clear and striking that it will 
become a subject of thought and of conversation among 
the pupils and thus become a real motive in their lives. 
It would be better still if it stirred the parents and the 
community at large. There is nothing better than 
discussion to clarify and make effective any subject of 
study. 

The Chief Topics Branch Out : Samples. — We shall 
discuss in this chapter only a few topics, as samples, 
under the principal divisions in the treatment of hygiene. 
In the classroom these will, of course, branch out from 
day to day into scores and hundreds of minor and sub- 
ordinate topics. The teacher should be guided in her 
sequence by the correlations of the day and by the needs 
and the experiences of the pupils and the community. 

i. Respect for the Body. — ■ Children should be taught 
that their bodies are sacred things and hence deserving 
of the highest respect. They are temples of the mind or 
the spirit and should be treated as such. A person who 



Hygiene 245 

has a wholesome respect for his body is the person who 
has, as a rule, the most self-respect. Children should 
be taught that the body should be kept clean, that it 
should never be abused or debauched, and that it should 
be regarded as our most sacred possession. A sound 
body is the basis of a sound mind, and any abuse of the 
former, whether it can be measured or not, has its effect 
upon the latter. The teacher should select for illustra- 
tion of this subject portions of the discussions found in 
the various elementary textbooks on hygiene in her 
possession. She will have, of course, on her desk several 
or many elementary texts on physiology and hygiene, 
and these may be used as source books in her work. 

A poem like The Living Temple by Oliver Wendell 
Holmes, and other such selections, read here to the pupils 
and by them, in an intelligent and appreciative way, 
either in connection with the hygiene lesson or in the 
regular reading lesson, but correlated with this discussion, 
would be full of interest and profit. The old book by 
the Aliens, called The Man Wonderful in The House 
Beautiful, was a wholesome and interesting allegory and 
the reading of it to the pupils would give occasions and 
opportunities without number for the teacher to instill 
into the pupils' minds a genuine respect for their bodies. 

(a) Bathing. — In the discussion of " Respect for the 
Body " many subordinate topics will come to mind or 
be brought up for discussion by the pupils themselves. 
One of these, which I discuss here in brief, by way of 
illustration, is the subject of bathing. This subject, of 
course, should receive treatment adapted to the personnel 
of the school. Probably in some schools but little would 



246 Fundamentals in Methods 

need to be said, for in those cases the children would be 
found to come from good families who, as a rule, practice 
cleanliness in all its forms. It should be shown, however, 
that the skin is one of the great excretory organs of the 
body. Waste matter which clogs the system is con- 
stantly being produced in the body, and this can rind 
an exit only thru the pores of the skin ; consequently, 
these pores should be kept open. This can be done 
only by frequent and regular bathing. Remarkable 
as the fact may be, it is true that many people and many 
children, not only in rural districts, but in large cities, 
scarcely ever bathe. If after a clear and plain dis- 
cussion of the necessity of cleanliness in this respect 
such children could be induced to bathe even once a 
month, much would be gained. If those who now bathe 
once a month could be induced to bathe once a week, so 
much the better ! If those who bathe once a week could 
be impressed with the desirability of opening up the pores 
as often as necessary — once every day or two — for the 
keeping of their bodies in a healthy and cleanly condi- 
tion, a great work would have been done. Indeed, there 
seems to be a prejudice among some people against 
bathing. What the origin of it is we do not know: it 
may be a mistaken idea of modesty and of respect for 
the body ; but if children could be made to see that it is 
by cleanliness rather than by filth that we cherish and 
respect our bodies, it would be a step gained in the teach- 
ing of hygiene. 

(b) Sex Hygiene. — The question of teaching the 
hygiene of sex has been much discussed during the last 
few years. This subject should, it seems to the author, 



Hygiene 247 

be avoided by the ordinary teacher. Of course, if a 
child should ask his teacher for information or advice in 
regard to sex questions, it would be eminently appropriate 
for the teacher to give such information in confidence, 
but the discussion should be minimized and reduced to 
its lowest terms. The public discussion of sex problems 
before a class in an elementary school is an egregious 
blunder. If information be given privately and modestly 
to an individual when it is asked, it will be considered 
by that child a privileged communication, a secret to be 
kept in honor; but if such information be given indis- 
criminately, it is likely to spread out mischievously into 
vulgarity and incipient immorality. 

2. The Germ Theory of Disease. — The germ theory of 
disease is one of those generic subjects which would 
radiate out into a variety and multiplicity of specific 
topics. The subject of germs should be presented in as 
vivid a manner as possible. These little organisms 
should mean something definite so that children will 
know what they are and what they do. Some of these 
germs are our enemies, but others are our friends. It 
should be made clear to the children that every so-called 
" germ disease " is caused by a specific kind of germ ; 
that as this particular kind is taken into the lungs or 
the stomach or the blood they multiply at an enormous 
rate, producing waste matter that the system can not 
dispose of and thus causing fever. When these germs 
have run their course, — when their generation has 
suffered decay, — the vital forces of the body regain the 
ascendancy. It should be shown that the greatest 
enemies of these hosts of germs are sunlight and fresh 



248 Fundamentals in Methods 

air and that, consequently, people should live in such 
conditions as allow and furnish the greatest fullness of 
these life-preserving and germ-destroying agencies. 

As in previous cases, the author would here merely 
indicate by a few samples the direction which such 
discussions should take: 

(a) Consumption. — Suggested by the foregoing, the 
dread disease known as the white plague, or consumption, 
should be discussed fully and freely. Consumption, it 
should, for example, be explained, is a form of tuber- 
culosis — that form which attacks the lungs. Many 
old notions and prejudices in regard to consumption 
should be thoroly rooted out. Before the germ origin 
of diseases was known, and hence before the danger 
of consumption was realized, it was thought that this 
disease was not infectious and that there was no danger 
in coming in contact with it. Elderly people, even yet, 
sometimes feel offended if friends and neighbors show 
signs of fear and avoid their homes or their consumptive 
relatives. But consumption is exceedingly infectious 
and should be as carefully guarded in every way as 
smallpox or cholera. Pupils should be told just how 
the germ in consumption is communicated — thru the 
saliva or the matter ejected from the lungs, and hence 
often by the breath in close proximity. In the coughing 
paroxysms in consumption the germs in great numbers 
may be expelled from the lungs, and these, when they 
become dry and float in the air, may be inhaled by other 
people. If, however, the patient be careful to confine 
and burn the saliva and other matter ejected from his 
lungs, there is little danger to others from this source. 



Hygiene 249 

But eternal vigilance is the price of exemption. Tuber- 
cular germs may also be taken into the system thru in- 
fected meats and other foods. 

(b) Typhoid fever is another of the germ diseases 
which is very prevalent thruout the country. Chil- 
dren in school should be on their guard against it. 
Thousands and thousands of people die needlessly every 
year in the United States of typhoid fever. Most of 
the cases come thru negligence or thru ignorance of the 
cause. 

Some years ago the writer was discussing typhoid 
fever in a lesson on hygiene before his school. The 
disease was somewhat epidemic at the time in the neigh- 
borhood and he wished to put the children in a position 
to protect themselves and to prevent the spread of the 
disease in the community. He told the class that 
typhoid fever is a germ disease and that this germ 
propagates best in filthy or foul sources. He explained 
that these germs are taken into the system with such 
foods as milk and butter, which rapidly absorb the 
germs and form a good soil for them; that water con- 
taminated from foul sources is probably the most fruit- 
ful cause of this fever. He then went on to explain that 
sometimes these germs get into the air and as spores are 
breathed in, or inhaled, and thus find lodgment in the 
system. 

Here again we would warn teachers in regard to the 
imaginative pictures which children form during a dis- 
cussion. The good teacher should always call back in- 
struction to see if the pupils have a true understanding. 
He will often find conceptions which he has been trying 



250 Fundamentals in Methods 

to convey very much distorted when returned to him. 
In the foregoing lesson on typhoid fever the word foul 
played havoc with one youth in the class ; he had also 
noted that the germs were breathed in. When later the 
teacher called back the instruction in a test and asked 
" What is the cause of typhoid fever? " this youth wrote : 
" Typhoid fever is caused by breathing in of the fowls of 
the air ! " This shows the necessity of making things 
clear. 

(c) Lockjaw. — Another disease that is somewhat 
common, and very violent when it does occur, is what is 
known as lockjaw, or tetanus. The class should be 
told that this is a germ disease, but that the germ finds 
entrance into the system by means of a puncture in 
the skin. Frequently a boy steps on an old nail and the 
germ finds entrance in this way. The germ of tetanus is 
most frequently found in the soil or on rusty nails that 
have come in contact with the soil. If some of these 
germs are on the nail when it pierces the skin, they will 
increase and multiply in the body, causing extreme heat 
and swelling and such a stiffness that a person can not 
open and close his mouth. This is why it is called lock- 
jaw. When the disease progresses this far, it is ex- 
tremely dangerous and frequently results in a painful 
death. 

(d) Trichinosis. — This subject would lead to an inter- 
esting short discussion, and when effectively presented, 
might frequently result, we think, in the avoidance of 
danger. Trichinosis is caused by eating raw pork, which 
is often infected by little organisms known as trichinae. 
When these permeate the system and completely fill it, a 



Hygiene 251 

person dies a protracted and agonizing death. Con- 
sequently, the danger of eating raw pork should be made 
plain to children. 

(e) Flies. — An interesting and helpful lesson might be 
given on the common house fly and its notoriously un- 
clean habits. Charts showing the construction of the 
mouth and proboscis of the fly may be easily secured. 
Flies visit sources of filth of all kinds and then, with their 
feet and bodies contaminated, they alight upon the foods 
on our tables, leaving there the germs which become a 
source of many diseases. Germ diseases of all kinds rise 
and fall with the number of flies and the ease with which 
they enter our homes and contaminate our foods. 
Children should thus be taught the necessity of exter- 
minating the fly, and better still, the ways by which the 
fly pest may be prevented. It should be shown how 
individuals and families and communities should clean 
up all sources of fly propagation and should spread the 
good gospel of fly extermination. Children should be 
impressed with the truth that the fly is one of the great 
enemies of mankind, but that the fly can not be blamed 
if we cultivate him. 

3. Fresh Air. — In the presentation of this topic, as in 
others, it is important to give some striking phase of it 
and to supply illustrations that will arrest the attention 
and arouse such interest as will result later in better 
living. It might be mentioned, for instance, that many 
people nail down and hermetically seal their windows 
during the winter so that no fresh air can get in any- 
where. Indeed, the idea seems to be prevalent in some 
households that fresh air is a dangerous thing which 



252 Fundamentals in Methods 

must be excluded by all means ; that it is the cause of 
drafts and hence of colds in various forms. And so, the 
family live night and day, when they are not in the open, 
in a condition in which their lungs are being not only 
starved, but poisoned, for want of fresh air. 

(a) Unventilated Public Buildings. — We have all 
noticed, on visiting an unventilated schoolroom, the blast 
of vile odor that strikes us upon entering the door. 
Those who are inside, of course, have become habituated 
to it and do not realize the condition. Most of the 
sickness and much of the inattention and lethargy, the 
drowsiness and headache, in many schools is caused by a 
lack of fresh air. Many churches, too, are lung-poisoning 
places. Many of them are without an efficient system 
of ventilation, and after the congregation leaves the 
building on Sundays the doors are closed and a church- 
ful of foul air is preserved for the next meeting. 

(b) An Illustration. — It could be shown by the 
teacher that a lighted candle placed in a closed box 
which will not admit fresh air will burn dimly and 
will go out for want of oxygen. A similar condition 
exists in many schoolrooms and other public buildings. 
There is not a sufficient supply of oxygen to feed the 
flame of life, and children go thru a process of lung 
starvation from week to week. 

(c) The Black Hole of Calcutta. — To show the im- 
portance of fresh air, striking incidents like the horri- 
ble experience in " the Black Hole of Calcutta " should 
be told or read. It is necessary frequently to arouse 
and even to startle pupils in order to bring them to a 
realizing sense of what should be done. The Master's 



Hygiene 253 

method of teaching by parables and by illustrative ma- 
terial is best here, as in every other subject. 

(d) Breathing Exercises. — A friend of the author says 
that when he was a young man, going to Yale University, 
he had to leave on account of what everybody thought 
was consumption. He went home, and he could read 
in the faces of the old ladies, as they came in to see him, 
the verdict that he was not long for this world. But he 
heard of a specialist in breathing exercises and went, to 
consult him. This specialist, along with prescribing 
some medicine, gave him a program of breathing exer- 
cises. Paying but slight attention to the medicines, he 
proceeded to carry out his program. The first time that 
he made the attempt, taking in a long, full, deep breath, 
he grew weak and fainted, and had to be carried in. 
But he never gave up the idea that lungs are made for 
breathing; and so he continued with renewed energy 
but with more carefulness. After a few months he 
could allow two minutes to intervene between the be- 
ginning of an inhalation and the end of an exhalation. 
Standing before a vast audience, the very picture of 
health and strength, and bringing his right arm up and 
pounding his chest so that the sound could be heard 
thruout the room, he exclaimed, " There is no con- 
sumption there ! " Children could hardly forget an 
illustration of this kind. Correct breathing could well 
become with them a habit, and such a habit can not fail 
to result in better health thruout life. 

4. Care of the Eyes and Ears. — Much valuable 
information could and should be given to the children 
in regard to the care of the eyes and of the ears. In 



254 Fundamentals in Methods 

fact, teachers themselves often remain oblivious or 
ignorant of the condition of their pupils' sight and 
hearing. Many children do not see well, and do 
not know that their eyes are imperfect. They do 
not see what is written on the blackboard and think 
that it is their own fault. Many children do not hear 
well, and do not know of this defect. Teachers should 
be constantly on the watch for defects of this kind in 
their schools. 

(a) The Lighting. — It should be made plain to 
children that it is dangerous to read without suffi- 
cient light. The author remembers a sentence which 
he read in his boyhood days and which he has never 
forgotten. It is this : "A thoughtless hour of reading 
by twilight may impair the sight for life ! " State- 
ments like this and illustrations that are vivid are 
never forgotten and are very sure to result in better 
doing. The danger of front lights and of cross lights, 
constantly playing upon the eyes of children, should 
be guarded against by the teacher and should be clearly 
explained to the pupils. 

ib) Restful Colors. — Useful lessons might be given, 
not only in the care of the eyes, but also in elementary 
aesthetics along the line of colors. Children and savages, 
as a rule, like loud and flashy colors and violent contrasts. 
Certain wall colors are injurious to the eyes if we are 
constantly subjected to them. The colors of the school- 
room should be neutral and restful. 

(c) Defects of Vision and Hearing. — The children 
should be tested for near-sight, far-sight, astigmatism, 
and color blindness. As we said, many children have eye 



Hygiene 255 

defects of which they and their parents are . entirely un- 
conscious. It would be well for the teacher to have a 
set of what are called the Snellen Tests. Such tests are 
simple and could be made by any teacher. She could 
merely determine whether the child is afflicted with 
near-sight, far-sight, or astigmatism ; and in such cases 
could tell the child or its parents. The children should 
be given sound advice as to what to do. They should 
be told to see a resident oculist or optician. Attention 
at the beginning may prevent grave trouble later. 
Defects of the eyes frequently cause headaches and other 
ailments of which neither the children nor their parents 
know the cause. Such useful information should be 
presented to children in as interesting a way as possible 
so as to arouse their curiosity and their desire for in- 
formation in these matters. 

The teacher should also test the ears of children. 
This may be done by a watch: if when one ear is 
closed to sounds, the ticking of a watch can be 
heard by the other about at arm's length, the hearing 
is normal. 

5. Care of the Teeth. — The care of the teeth is also a 
very important subject and should be explained fully 
and concretely. The pupil should realize that his second 
set of teeth must last him all his life and hence that the 
teeth are worth taking care of and preserving by all 
possible means. In the old days, before the advance of 
dental surgery, the tooth which became troublesome 
was extracted ; now the practice is to save it if at all 
possible, thereby increasing the masticating surface. 
Children should be taught that it is well to have their 



256 Fundamentals in Methods 

teeth examined by a dentist at least once a year, and all 
defects or cavities filled. Frequently, tartar, a concrete 
substance, gathers on the teeth and pushes its way up 
under the gums. Children should also be taught that 
they should have a toothbrush and use it night and morn- 
ing. A good mouth wash is simple salt water. They 
should also be taught, in the preservation of their teeth, 
not to crack nuts or bite substances that might injure 
the enamel. Reason and illustrations should make 
clear what the teacher is attempting to impress. 

In the discussion of the teeth, as in all other subjects, 
the children will have many questions to ask and may 
furnish some good information. In any event discussion 
will help to awaken in their minds a clear knowledge of 
what to do or what not to do and a resolution to act 
accordingly. 

6. Exercise and Play, (a) Outside Games. — This is 
another important subject from the point of view of 
hygiene. In the rural school, where the teacher con- 
trols the situation, she should see to it that the pupils 
learn to play a great many games. It seems to the author 
that children nowadays hardly know how to play. A 
generation ago there was a variety of games in which 
they all participated. One of the best things a teacher 
could do would be to interest the children in various 
kinds of plays. One of the pleasantest memories of the 
author goes back to the rural school playground where 
the teacher joined in all kinds of sports. The whole 
school should turn out after lunch and at recess and en- 
gage in play. If the community can be interested, so as 
to make the movement more extensive than the school, 



Hygiene 257 

so much the better. Races, horseshoes, baseball, tennis, 
basket ball, prison base, anything — even marbles have 
their merit. 

(b) Indoor Gymnastics. — Nor should indoor exer- 
cises be forgotten. Frequently between classes fresh 
air should be admitted freely so as to attain outside 
conditions as nearly as possible, and the whole school 
should be put thru some energetic and really warming- 
up exercises for about ten minutes. The time thus 
spent is not time lost. If it is not possible to have 
regular outside games, there should be at least one and 
preferably two regular periods for physical exercise 
on the daily schedule. 

Such exercises are needed in rural as well as in city 
schools, for the chief aim is to increase the circulation, 
develop fuller respiration, and aid digestion. Gymnas- 
tics rightly taught and engaged in tend to counteract the 
cramped position of pupils and overcome bad tendencies 
of sitting, standing, and working. School Gymnastics, 
by Harriet Trask, containing graded exercises, some 
games, and a few fancy steps, would be a great help 
to the average teacher. 

(c) What to Emphasize and Avoid. — Good posture 
should be emphasized at all times. Many young people 
as well as adults have slight spinal deformities as a result 
of bad habits of standing and sitting. In all gymnastic 
work the head should be held up, the chest out, the 
shoulders back, and the feet together. The pupils 
should be taught the cause and the effects of round 
shoulders. It is not the looks, but the injurious effects 
on health that is most important. When the chest is 



258 Fundamentals in Methods 

narrow and the shoulders round, the lungs can not ex- 
pand so well, we get less fresh air, and the blood is not 
so well oxygenated. 

Athletics and games which demand too severe a 
strain should be avoided, especially by girls. The 
health of many a girl, for example, has been injured by 
basketball work on account of a lack of care on her part 
and oversight on the part of those in charge. In the 
case of young children one individual should not be 
pitted against another. Contests should be in groups. 
If it be a case of jumping, the average for the group 
should be the standard. 

7. Alcohol and Narcotics. — This is a subject which 
should be treated in a frank and sincere way and without 
exaggeration. It is probable that some of the text- 
books during the last generation have made too much of 
this subject. Hygiene should be the unit, and both alco- 
hol and narcotics should be subtopics under it. Some- 
times the less said the better in regard to these subjects, 
if what is said is given in a friendly, sincere, and brief 
discussion. " If 'twere done when 'tis done, then 'twere 
well 'twere done quickly." Long, drawn-out lessons on 
both alcohol and narcotics are sometimes analogous to 
nagging and scolding. The author is inclined to think 
that a personal example and the personal and friendly 
touch of the teacher is worth more than long discussions. 
All the facts in regard to both the cause and the effects 
should be presented according to the grade and the 
ability of the pupils, but the teacher should assume the 
attitude of the true teacher rather than that of the direct 
moralizer. The plain truth in regard to the influence of 



Hygiene 259 

alcohol and narcotics is more strange and more powerful 
than fiction. 

8. Miscellaneous Specific Topics. — The author has 
thus far contented himself with merely giving a few 
samples of the presentation of topics in hygiene. Others 
without number will be suggested from day to day : 

(1) The whole subject of vaccination should be covered 
in a simple, elementary, and concrete way, and the right 
impression should be left. 

(2) The subject of anger should be discussed, and it 
should be shown that anger, or bad temper, indulged 
to a habit, results in a kind of souring process which 
generates a subtle poison in the body and militates 
against health. 

(3) The common drinking cup should be discussed at 
length with all its attendant dangers. 

(4) Foods and their relative values would make an 
interesting subject of discussion. 

Other topics too numerous to mention, which the 
children or the lesson may suggest, offer subject-matter 
in hygiene that is rich, varied, and fruitful in good 
results when presented by the wide-awake and impressive 
teacher. 

References. — The following books selected from a large 
and growing literature on this subject are good samples 
of valuable sources for the teacher : 

Bancroft: The Posture of School Children (The Macmillan Co.). 
Bancroft : Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium 

(The Macmillan Co.). 
Cornell: The Health and Medical Inspection of School Children 

(F. A. Davis & Co., Philadelphia). 



260 Fundamentals in Methods 

Dressier : School Hygiene (The Macmillan Co.). 

Pyle : Personal Hygiene (W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia). 

Rowe: The Physical Nature of the Child (The Macmillan 

Co.). 
O'Shea and Kellogg: Health Series of Physiology and Hygiene 

(The Macmillan Co.). i. Health Habits. 2. Health and 

Cleanliness. 3. The Body in Health. 4. Making the Most 

of Life. 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE TEACHING OF MORALS 

Indirect Teaching Best. — In the teaching of good 
manners and good morals the writer is convinced that 
instruction should not be given in a formal manner, at 
regular specific times, or from a textbook. The occa- 
sions for driving home a moral lesson are innumerable. 
The teaching of morals implies a fine, intangible, and 
indirect influence which should not be cast in cut-and- 
dried lessons. Such teaching is one of the most difficult 
of arts, and to cast it into molds and deal it out at regular 
times, as in the case of arithmetic, grammar, and other 
subjects, would be to do violence to it. These latter 
subjects are best taught when pupils are most conscious 
of the content ; while morality is instilled more effectively 
in an indirect way and when pupils are least conscious 
that they are being moralized. If there be a definite 
period on the program for the teaching of morals, some, 
if not most, of the pupils will think and say to themselves, 
" Here comes the sermon again ! " Neither children 
nor adults like to be lectured or preached at in this 
direct manner. The best time to bring a moral lesson 
to bear is when the occasion naturally gives rise to it. 
The time to strike is when the iron is hot, when there is a 
propriety in the lesson or the illustration. Indeed, it is 
best not to point the moral at all ; this will be inferred 

261 



262 Fundamentals in Methods 

by the pupils and has the best effect when they them- 
selves draw the inference and silently make the applica- 
tion to their own lives. 

The Moralizing Power of the Teacher. — The teacher's 
life is, after all, the greatest moralizing power in the 
schoolroom. Everything that he says and does and his 
whole method and manner of procedure are moralizing, 
either positively or negatively. Many teachers so im- 
press themselves upon their pupils that a stranger who 
knows both could tell the relation : the pupil acts in so 
many ways like the teacher. Children may forget the 
specific lessons of grammar, arithmetic, geography, or 
history and yet carry with them thru life a vivid 
mental picture of an inspiring and enthusiastic teacher. 
Such a teacher becomes a model and an ideal. All his 
characteristics are in a measure transferred to his pupils : 
his manners, even, become theirs ; his virtues influence 
their lives. This means that his qualities of mind and 
heart flow into their lives and become a part of them. 
A pupil can not come under the influence of a great 
teacher for any length of time without being morally 
impressed, morally formed and fashioned by him. Con- 
sequently the teacher should bear in mind at all times 
that his ways and his words are silently having their 
effect upon his pupils, who will act later in a manner 
quite different from the way in which they otherwise 
would. The true teacher realizes the importance of his 
calling ; he feels that a responsibility rests upon him and 
that he is producing results in the lives of others, either 
in the direction of good or of evil. As a teacher can 
give only what he is, it is all important in the life of a 



The Teaching of Morals 263 

school and possibly of a community what kind of teacher 
is employed. The commonplace teacher will produce 
commonplace lives, both academically and morally; 
while the great, moral, impressive teacher will generate 
lives after his kind. If a teacher is sincere, truthful, 
honest, simple, just, sympathetic, and kind, these 
qualities will be evoked and developed in the lives of 
the children, and this is the highest kind of moral teach- 
ing. 

The Moralizing Power of Schoolmates. — Altho the 
home is the greatest moralizing agency in the life and 
the education of a human being, since it impresses 
itself upon the child so forcefully during the early and 
plastic period of its life, probably the next factor in 
importance is that of companions. Children are imi- 
tative and suggestible in a high degree, and the com- 
panions, the group, the gang, or the school is most 
potent in the formation of some kind of character in 
each individual. There is safety in numbers, and es- 
pecially in a school that is carefully supervised in regard 
to manners and morals. The greatest danger lies in 
the small group or gang. One bad boy in an hour can 
tear down more character than the home, the school, 
and the church combined can build up in a whole year. 
Hence it is that the teacher should be careful in regard 
to the play and the conduct of children upon the school- 
grounds during intermissions. The wholesome presence 
of the teacher should restrain evil and stimulate the good. 
The teacher, of course, should not be a too dominant 
factor upon the playground, inhibiting free activities 
or guiding them in too narrow grooves. While freedom 



264 Fundamentals in Methods 

should be allowed, the presence of the teacher would be 
wholesome and should even be stimulating and suggestive 
of good activities. The school is, for each individual 
child, the larger world, the larger self, and is social- 
izing, properly conventionalizing, moralizing. Some 
mothers who have children who rule the household 
wonder what the teacher will do when " Johnny " goes 
to school. But when Johnny enters, he is caught up by 
the spirit of the school and the crowd and is as meek and 
obedient as a lamb. He is changed from a conscious 
little egoist to an unconscious altruist. On the play- 
ground, too, he must take as well as give, and this is the 
effect, in every situation, of schoolmates, in the moraliz- 
ing process. 

Habits of Preparation and Presentation. — The or- 
dinary subjects of study and their methods of prep- 
aration and presentation constitute an excellent field 
for the teaching of morals. If a pupil is taught how to 
prepare a lesson honestly so as to acquire the habit of 
studious, consecutive, and thoro work, this is in itself 
moralizing. If, then, at the time of recitation he forms 
the habit of explaining his work clearly and intelligently 
so that his recitation as well as his preparation will be, 
from first to last, an honest expression of his own indi- 
viduality, he will feel not only the self-indorsement that 
comes from work faithfully and successfully done, but 
he will also have the commendation of his teacher and 
classmates; and this afterglow of work well done has 
an excellent effect in steadying a person to honest re- 
solves. Hence it is that in the preparation and presen- 
tation of work the teacher should see to it that it is all 



The Teaching of Morals 265 

moralizing. In many schools the work is not only dis- 
honestly prepared but deceitfully presented; and into 
the lives of children who are allowed to work in this way 
there must insidiously creep the habit of sharp practice 
and of slipshod work. The pupil who habitually copies 
from others and presents the work as his own, and the 
pupil whose aim is to get the correct answer or result by 
whatever means he can, are not being moralized in the 
true sense. 

The Subjects Themselves Moralize. — Even the sub- 
ject-matter itself of the different branches is conducive 
to morality when prepared and presented as above in- 
dicated. There is no subject in the curriculum which 
can not be made highly moralizing in the hands of an 
artist teacher. 

(a) Arithmetic, for example, like all other branches of 
mathematics, is so accurate and clean-cut that of itself it 
compels a facing of the truth. It teaches the habit of 
clear thinking. In such a subject as arithmetic there is 
little opportunity for obscurity and for what is called 
" bluffing " ; with the right kind of teaching the pupil 
must be honest with his subject, honest with himself, 
and honest with his teacher. It is a subject in which 
dishonesty is easily caught. Straight and definite think- 
ing is in the direction of corresponding conduct 

(b) Language study is a subject which, of itself, has a 
tendency to improve the moral conduct of children if 
effectively taught; for language is closely connected 
with thought and feeling. One is easily judged in his 
thinking and often in his conduct by the words and 
language which he uses. Thought and language, as 



266 Fundamentals in Methods 

we said, are intimately connected, and where there is 
accurate language there is usually accurate thought. 
Where thought and language are accurate there is less 
room for dishonesty in the personality. Clear thinking 
is directly conducive to moral conduct ; many people do 
not do the right things because they can not think the 
right things ; and while it may be true that conduct does 
not always come up to one's knowledge, it is true, never- 
theless, that accurate knowledge is a concomitant and 
a cause of morality. Socrates went to the extreme and 
held that clear thinking is fundamental to morality, and 
Plato called ignorance the " He of the soul." In fact 
there are few subjects which admit of so many moral 
lessons as do language and its elements — words and 
their meanings. Nearly all the great controversies of 
the ages and of to-day rest upon the ambiguity of words 
and of language. If people understood each other and 
the language that they use, there would be fewer 
quarrels, feuds, controversies, and wars. People often 
disagree and quarrel because the words and the language 
passing from one to the other do not produce accurate 
replicas of thought in the minds of each. 

(c) Geography, too, is a socializer and hence a morali- 
zer. Children become acquainted, if only in imagination, 
with other places, other countries, and other peoples. 
They are brought to know the manners, the habits, and 
customs, the ideals, and the modes of conduct of the 
peoples who live in other parts of the earth. And to 
know other peoples is, as a rule, to like them. The 
words stranger and enemy are the same in some of the 
ancient languages. Peoples who do not know each 



The Teaching of Morals 267 

other — who are strangers — are enemies. Those living 
on the other side of a river or on the other side of 
a mountain range have been enemies only because they 
have been strangers. Even to-day a boy from the 
country who comes into town is attacked by other boys 
only because he is a stranger. Now, to become social- 
ized, to know other peoples, is, in large measure, to be- 
come moralized ; and geography is a subject in which 
children are or should be introduced in a sympathetic 
manner to the various peoples of the earth, their man- 
ners, their customs, their occupations, and their stage 
of culture. 

(d) The teaching of the elements of science, whether 
it be nature study, agriculture, physics, chemistry, or 
botany, is inherently moralizing, for it opens up to 
children the great realm of nature and induces in them 
a profound respect for truth and law. Science in its 
various phases is a great destroyer of superstition. 
The poor savage, when he goes forth and sees a comet or 
other celestial phenomenon which he does not under- 
stand, says to himself, " That means me ! " When 
children are introduced to the why's and wherefore's in 
the great fields of nature, there is elicited in them a re- 
spect for law and a sense of reverence and of mystery in 
it all, which must awaken in them a moral attitude to- 
ward life and nature. The philosopher Kant said that 
there were two things which always inspired him with 
reverence and awe: the starry heavens above and the 
conscience within. If children could be inspired in any 
such way by being impressed with the great realm of 
nature and with the idea of a Divine Providence behind 



268 Fundamentals in Methods 

it all, they are given an attitude which is in the highest 
sense moral and religious. 

(e) The subject of history is an excellent one in which 
to instill into the minds and hearts of children a moral 
attitude. Here the lives of great people — the lives of 
men in times of a nation's trial and in times of peace — 
are held up before them and they naturally respond to 
the ideals presented. In the past the ideals embodied 
in the lives of warriors have probably been altogether too 
dominant. There are heroes of peace no less than of war, 
and the former deserve our attention and admiration 
quite as much, if not more, than the latter. In the city 
of Richmond, Virginia, there is a monument erected 
" To a Good Citizen." If such monuments were 
erected more generally thruout the country, such a 
practice would be in the right direction; for it is 
incomparably more difficult to fight the battles of peace 
and to win out in the race for good citizenship than it is 
to fight the battles of war. In history there is an ex- 
cellent opportunity for a discussion of the right and 
wrong of every question and of the ideals presented in 
the life and character of every historic personage. 

Here there is an excellent opportunity, too, to allow 
honest differences of opinion. This open-mindedness and 
toleration of the judgment of others indicates probably 
more than anything else the thoroly educated, cul- 
tured, and moralized person. In the study of history 
children can learn that another person's judgment may be 
challenged without in any way impugning his motives 
or denouncing him personally. Here the great lesson 
could well be taught that a person's judgment is not 



The Teaching of Morals 269 

himself, and that we may differ in this respect and yet 
lose none of our love or respect for him. This is difficult 
for the prejudiced, the ignorant, and the intolerant to 
understand. But in the educative process, sympathy, 
toleration, and large-mindedness are the very essence 
of morality. 

(/) Reading is, of course, the great subject which 
furnishes material for the moralizing of children. Every 
day the teacher and pupils read selections that are real 
gems of thought and of emotion, and these selections, 
from the first grade to the eighth, many of them being 
memorized, form in later years a real gallery of artistic 
pictures hanging upon memory's wall. A person who 
has such a collection of pictures is better enabled to live 
a happy and successful life ; for it would be vastly easier 
to live in conformity with the suggestive and beautiful 
pictures with which the mind is filled. They build 
up in us our ideals, and these grow with our growth and 
strengthen with our strength. Like the old familiar 
songs, they remain ever new, reviving in us our ideals 
and strengthening our resolves. Thus, the seeds of 
morality, sown in reading and its subject-matter, if duly 
cultivated, come later to flower and fruit in good deeds 
and good lives. 

Subject-matters Ethicized. — In the Ethical Culture 
School in the city of New York, the moral element in 
each subject of study, such as geography, history, science, 
reading, etc., has been systematized so that moralization 
will be somewhat accented throughout the school. The 
school is organized with the ethical element dominantly 
in view, and it has exercised the function of selection and 



270 Fundamentals in Methods 

rejection in the content of every subject. The school, 
owing to circumstances, is selective and rejective also 
in its patronage. The whole institution is permeated 
with the conscious ethical ideal. This is certainly an 
excellent thing. But this extent of systematized and 
conscious moralization is not possible in the schools 
thruout the country for many reasons. There is not 
sufficient like-mindedness, and teaching is not on a suffi- 
ciently high and professional plane. But it is quite pos- 
sible for every teacher worthy of the name to single 
out and emphasize the ethical idea and the moral practice 
at all times and in every subject. In the last analysis 
it is the kind of teacher that determines the kind of 
school. Every teacher in the public schools should 
keep clearly in mind, whatever else is done or not done, 
that character in the pupils is, after all, the chief aim. 
The teacher is the guide who is supposed to have been 
over the road, to know the dangers and pitfalls in the 
lives of children, to be able to guide them- carefully 
thru such dangers, and to hold up before them the 
goal toward which they are moving. The bee gathers 
honey and poison from the same flowers; and so the 
same subjects, in their treatment by the teacher, may 
serve either as a source of poison or of sweetness. The 
problem of seeing to it that morals and character issue 
out of every situation, surely but silently, should be 
always present in the teacher's mind or in the teacher's 
habit. 

Good Pictures. — Beautiful pictures are a great factor 
in the moral education of children. As one can not live 
with a great personality for some time without being 



The Teaching of Morals 271 

influenced by it, neither can one live in the presence of a 
great picture without being impressed. In this age 
when the art of photography has been developed to 
such a high degree, even the poorest may have 
beautiful pictures. There should be a few good 
pictures in every schoolroom. Too many should 
be avoided as it makes against simplicity; it is 
not artistic to have a room literally cluttered with all 
kinds of pictures. A good picture serves as a continual 
uplifting suggestion. If " artists are nearest God," 
really fine art makes for Godliness. A school under the 
direction of a teacher of good taste will improve rapidly 
and wonderfully in artistic appreciation. If a child 
makes a picture book one year, the next year he will 
probably eliminate not a few of the pictures chosen the 
year before and replace them with others more artistic. 
The teacher who is a lover of art could raise the standard 
of her school rapidly in their artistic discrimination and 
appreciation of the beautiful. Beauty and goodness 
are closely related, and the person who loves the beautiful 
will also usually love the true and the good. 

The Influence of Music. — As pictures are a great in- 
fluence for good in the lives of children, music is probably 
more truly moralizing. A teacher who is in no sense a 
specialist may awaken in her pupils a love of music and 
cause them to enter heartily into the musical exercises. 
The immediate purpose of music is to awaken and refine 
the higher feelings and emotions. These in turn tend 
strongly toward the good. On the other hand, if the 
music be inherently or intentionally bad, it will conduce 
to that end. But, granted that music and song are 



272 Fundamentals in Methods 

elevating and ennobling, they inevitably result in more 
refinement of character and more harmony of life. 

It would be an excellent plan to have a phonograph and 
a variety of good records in every school. By this means 
the pupils may be accustomed to the best music. It will 
be found that their tastes can be transformed from a love 
of the frivolous and the worthless to a desire to hear only 
the finest selections. This is no small gain. As the art 
of photography has enabled schools to have copies of 
the finest pictures, so the phonograph has brought within 
the reach of all excellent reproductions of the great 
masters of vocal and instrumental music. In addition 
to this the faithful reproduction of the speeches of some 
of the greatest living people may be heard by the 
children. 

The School Organization. — The organization of the 
school, with its rules and regulations and 'its manage- 
ment generally, is constantly impressing upon the chil- 
dren habits of regularity, punctuality, politeness, truth, 
honesty, economy, honor, justice, and, in fact, all the 
virtues. It is these things that constitute morality, 
and it is the ingraining of these virtuous habits that con- 
stitutes character. A pupil is required by the rules of 
the school to be regular in attendance; he is made to 
realize that it is his duty to be present unless he has a 
good and sufficient reason not to be. He learns to feel 
that it is his duty to be there every day, and that if he is 
not, he should account for his absence. This is learning 
responsibility. He is also made to feel that it is his duty 
to be on time. In these matters he learns a sense of 
justice to his class, as well as duty to himself, to his 



The Teaching of Morals 273 

teacher, and to the school ; he also learns, under pressure 
of the school spirit and without any direct compulsion, 
to be polite upon all occasions ; he learns that veracity 
is necessary and required and that falsehood and deceit 
have no place in the schoolroom; he is taught to be 
honest with himself, with his schoolmates, and with his 
teacher ; he is taught that honor is to be highly prized, 
and that no dishonorable thing is to be done ; he learns 
that justice is a great virtue, that the square deal, both in 
the schoolroom and on the playground, is due to others 
as well as to himself. In many schools a savings-bank 
system is established whereby pupils are taught econ- 
omy thru savings. In all of these things virtue is being 
built up in the life of a pupil. The teacher should recog- 
nize that children are not perfect ; if they were, it would 
not be necessary to go to school. In the inculcation of 
these virtues the teacher should practice kindness rather 
than severity, for he can nourish them by love and kill 
them by sternness. When all these virtues are carefully 
watched, and when they are nourished in the children's 
lives, morality is having a healthy growth. 

Watch for Defacements. — In carefully guarding the 
morals of the pupils the teacher should supervise carefully 
and constantly the condition of the closets and outbuild- 
ings. Teachers and school boards often neglect this. 
It may be due to modesty, but if so, it is a false and 
culpable " modesty." If these environments be not 
carefully watched, they may become sources of corruption 
for childhood. Parents would prefer to have their chil- 
dren grow up in their native wildness without such so- 
called "education" than to have their minds and hearts 



274 Fundamentals in Methods 

befouled and debauched by the vile words, pictures, and 
insinuations which frequently meet the eye in such 
places. A hint to the wise is sufficient. This problem 
should be grappled in earnest, and no teacher and no 
school board should be derelict to duty in these matters ; 
for, after all, it is character that is the chief aim in educa- 
tion ; and a knowledge of arithmetic, grammar, history, 
or geography is a poor recompense for the loss of virtue. 

By Reading and Telling Stories. — The telling of 
numerous stories by the teacher or the reading of them 
by the teacher and by the pupils may be made an im- 
portant agency in moral education. While the regular 
reading lessons may do much, it is always well for the 
teacher to select some simple stories and to read or tell 
them effectively to the appropriate grade and at an 
opportune time. These will sink deeply into the chil- 
dren's minds and hearts and will bring forth in their 
own good time, fruitful results. I need give here only 
a few samples of what I mean : 

Down in the primary grades such stories as Little 
Red Riding Hood, The Boy at the Dyke, The Bunch of 
Sticks, The Boy who cried " Wolf 1 Wolf! ", The Dog in 
the Manger, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Noah 
and the Flood might be told to the delight and moral 
edification of the children. Others would, of course, 
be selected from day to day and from week to week by 
the teacher who is in vital touch, ethically, with her 
pupils. Grimm's Fairy Tales and ^Esop's Fables should 
be familiar to the teacher. Such stories are not problems 
to be solved and should not be analyzed or discussed — 
they are flowers to be enjoyed. The teacher who can 



The Teaching of Morals 275 

tell or read a story artistically, sympathetically, and 
effectively has a great power over children, and this 
means that both she and the story are transforming in 
their moral influence. 

Farther up in the grades the teacher should read or 
tell many of the heroic incidents of the Bible. Selections 
from literature and history in regard to great patriots, 
legislators, or military leaders should be read or narrated. 
Plutarch's Lives should be read to the children, some- 
where from the fifth to the seventh grade. Here the 
whole field of literature, ancient and modern, opens up, 
and the teacher who is a reader will have a fund of illus- 
trations of moral significance. 

A Collection of Literary Gems. — In addition to the 
regular reading lessons and the telling of stories or nar- 
ratives that have become classics, it is an excellent prac- 
tice for the teacher and the school, together, to make a 
collection of favorite literary gems of thought and to 
express themselves repeatedly in these selections. These 
may be taken from any source whatever, even clipped 
from the daily papers. It would teach the children to be 
on the watch for good and beautiful things wherever they 
may occur ; it would also make them discriminating as 
to what is worthy and what is not. Selections might 
be chosen for consideration on special occasions, such as 
the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Ella 
Lyman Cabot's Ethics for Children is a good collection 
of moralizing selections and should be in the hands of 
every elementary teacher. 

If the teacher and the pupils should find themselves 
coming to school some morning in the midst of a beautiful 



276 Fundamentals in Methods 

snow, the following short poem by John James Piatt 
could appropriately be given. They would then make 
it their own, and would ever afterward remember it. 
They would also recall the occasion on which they first 
made its acquaintance : 

The wonderful snow is falling 
Over river and woodland and wold ; 
The trees bear spectral blossom 
In the moonshine, blurred and cold. 

There's a beautiful garden in Heaven, 
And these are the banished flowers, 
Falling and driven and drifted 
Into this dark world of ours. 

Such memory gems make an appeal to our minds and 
hearts that is especially moralizing. 

If the children live in a prairie country, like the great 
Northwest, I should select some day the little poem by 
Hamlin Garland, called My Prairies, which runs as 
follows : 

I love my prairies, they are mine 

From zenith to horizon line, 
Clipping a world of sky and sod 

Like the bended arm and wrist of God. 

I love their grasses. The skies 

Are larger, and my restless eyes 
Fasten on more of earth and air 

Than seashores furnish anywhere. 

I love the hazel thickets ; and the breeze, 
The never resting prairie winds ; the trees 

That stand like spear points high 
Against the dark blue sky, 



The Teaching of Morals 277 

Are wonderful to me. I love the gold 

Of newly shaven stubble, rolled 
A royal carpet, towards the sun, fit to be 

The pathway of a deity. 

I love the life of pasture lands ; the songs of birds 
Are not more thrilling to me than the herd's 

Mad bellowing or the shadow stride 
Of mounted herdsmen at my side. 

I love my prairies, they are mine 

From high sun to horizon line. 
The mountains and the cold gray sea 

Are not for me, are naught to me. 

Mary D. McFadden's Evening on the Prairies would 
be an interesting companion poem to the above. The 
Calf Path, by Sam Walter Foss, and The Heavy Past, 
by Sidney Lanier, are two poems which illustrate the 
same moral lesson of slavish imitation, the former 
rather humorously and the latter seriously and inspira- 
tionally. John Boyle O'Reilly's What is the Real Good ? 
and James Foley's Town of No-Good on the River Slow 
are examples of choice little poems that would serve as 
artistic moral lessons. 

For patriotic selections might be mentioned The 
Flower of Liberty, by Oliver Wendell Holmes ; Scott's 
Love of Country; Lincoln's Gettysburg Address; and 
Kipling's The White Man's Burden. In connection with 
the reading of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, the little 
pamphlet entitled A Perfect Tribute, by Mary Raymond 
Shipman Andrews, should be read. Supplementary 
contributions to any poem or selection under considera- 
tion should never be neglected when they are available. 



278 Fundamentals in Methods 

First, Prepare the Soil. — Before the farmer sows the 
seed he carefully prepares the soil; and when the seed 
is sown, he gives the young plants careful cultivation 
in every way possible. So it should be with the teacher 
in planting the moral seed thoughts which are found in 
beautiful selections. The minds of the children should 
first be prepared for the reception of the story; the 
teacher should give the pupils, in an informal way, the 
background of the selection, so that when it is told or 
read, it will find an appreciative response in the minds 
and experiences of the children. 

Favorite Maxims. — Another excellent way of incul- 
cating good morals is to have a list of what may be 
termed " favorite maxims." These will be memorized 
on one hearing, and can never be forgotten. They are 
pithy sentences, each of which contains a great moral 
lesson ; and they will arise in one's thoughts as excellent 
illustrative material on all occasions in life. When 
we illustrate our thoughts by using such maxims, we give 
ourselves an impulse in their direction. I give only a 
few which may be added to indefinitely by the teacher 
and the pupils. None should be admitted to the ac- 
cepted list unless they are truly worthy : 

1. Cleanliness is next to Godliness. 

2. Habit is ten times nature. 

3. A good name is better than a good face. 

4. The wages of sin is death. 

5. Order is heaven's first law. 

6. Birds of a feather flock together. 

7. Nothing is so base as ingratitude. 

8. Straws show which way the wind blows. 

9. All looks yellow to the jaundiced eye. 



The Teaching of Morals 279 

10. It is never too late to mend. 

11. It is always too late to be what you might have been. 

12. Opportunity is always knocking at our doors. 

13. Before honor is humility. 

Short Biographies. — Biography is a great source of 
moral teaching ; for ideals are thus held up before us. 

"Lives of great men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime." 

Emerson says, " Hitch your wagon to a star." The short 
and simple biographies of great characters become 
guiding stars; they are all important to children, and 
lead them on. They embody the human element 
to such an extent and in such a way that children are 
deeply interested in them. The subjects of these biog- 
raphies are like themselves. They have had their 
childhood and youth, their weaknesses and their strength ; 
and so the biographies of the men who have won renown 
upon the field of battle, in legislative halls, in literature, 
and in art should be read and re-read. The lives of 
men and women who have lived for the happiness and 
succor of others, like Florence Nightingale, Frances 
Willard, Jane Addams, and George Peabody, should 
not be overlooked. These would be powerful influences 
in the lives of pupils. 

The School Spirit. — One of the greatest moral in- 
fluences in the life of children is that intangible some- 
thing called the " spirit," or the " atmosphere," of the 
school. It is that condition that prevails when every- 
thing moves smoothly, when no discords are felt, when 
there is an atmosphere of mutual love and respect 



280 Fundamentals in Methods 

between the teacher and the pupils ; when the latter are 
in such a condition that they are highly suggestible and 
will do, without hesitation, what the teacher intimates. 
Such an atmosphere or spirit transforms the pupils in 
harmony with it. It is socializing, moralizing. Thought 
and feeling, like water, seek a level, and they are con- 
stantly leveling up toward a great teacher. 

Self -assumed Law. — When all the foregoing condi- 
tions prevail, the pupils begin to take laws upon them- 
selves ; that is, they begin to be self-governing. There 
is nothing more hopeful, as there is nothing more pleas- 
ant, either to the teacher or to the parent, than to see 
children assume laws in accordance with which they are 
to govern themselves. This is really the goal of the 
school. When children move in the direction of self- 
government ; that is, when they take upon themselves 
laws to protect themselves against themselves, they are 
already well-nigh moralized, and indeed educated, in 
the true sense. The end and aim of education is to turn 
out self-governing, moralized, efficient human beings. 

Morals in the Public Schools. — It is frequently 
charged that there is a lack of morality and of its teaching 
in the public schools. Such a charge is usually made by 
two classes; viz. those who are chronic faultfinders, 
whose minds tend to destructive criticism, and who 
belong to that class who stand around and ask why it is 
not done some other way ; and, secondly, those who have 
selfish interests to further and who feel that the public 
free schools are impeding those interests and their own 
ambitions. The fact is that there are no schools so 
thoroly moralizing as those of the great public school 



The Teaching of Morals 281 

system. Here the teachers are not, as in private schools, 
subject to the whimsical beck and call of individual 
patrons. In private schools the teacher is subservient 
to the masters, who are the supporters of the school. 
She works for them. In the public school the teacher 
is an officer of the state and not a servant of a caste or 
clique. The great State stands back of her; and if 
there is one place where children who fear neither God 
nor parents outside the school have to submit to the 
moralizing processes indicated in the preceding pages, 
it is the public schoolroom. The public school has 
been called " Godless," but if religion pure and undenled 
is proper conduct and justice and kindness to others, 
the public schoolroom is one of the most Godly of places. 
There is, it is true, less teaching of abstract, metaphysi- 
cal, and denominational religion there, but as a conse- 
quence there is more genuineness and less hypocrisy. 
The highest religious ideals are assumed and granted by 
the public schools; just as these are assumed by our 
government and our political and social life. The 
public schools are anything but Godless or immoral in 
their ideals and motives, in their tendency, or in their 
results. 



CHAPTER XX 



THE SPECIAL SUBJECTS 



The School, a Sample of Real Life. — There are several 
subjects which have become very popular in recent years 
and which have been introduced quite extensively into 
the elementary school. Some of them have what might 
be called a vocational bearing, and all of them are ex- 
tremely valuable in making a vital connection between 
the school as it has existed in the past and life as we now 
find it all around us. The charge has frequently been 
made that the school and life are entirely separate and 
that the former does not prepare to any extent for the 
latter. Dr. John Dewey, a few years ago, wrote a valu- 
able and timely little work called The School and 
Society, in which he maintains that the activities of 
the school are not typical of those outside. The school, 
he maintained, should be only a sample, or cross section, 
of real life and of the life of the child. 

The Newer Subjects. — The subjects alluded to above 
are music, drawing, nature study, agriculture, domestic 
science, and manual training. These are usually taught 
by special teachers, but for the convenience and help of 
the general teacher, whether in the rural school or in the 
town or city, we give, all in one chapter, a brief discus- 
sion of each, and some specific directions that may point 
the way and guard against pitfalls and dangers in the 
method and procedure of the teacher in regard to them. 

282 



The Special Subjects 283 

I. Music 

Importance. — Music is, without doubt, one of the 
most valuable subjects of study and of practice in the 
education and culture of a human being. It is funda- 
mentally the expression of the emotions, and good music 
awakens and ennobles this part of our nature. More- 
over, the feelings are the greatest motives in conduct and 
life, and hence the necessity of developing and of control- 
ling them. A human being nearly always acts on account 
of his likes and dislikes, his feeling and emotions, and 
hardly ever from the mere dictates of his reason. We 
may flatter ourselves that we do thus and so, for reasons; 
but deeper down, below the reason, will be found, in nine 
cases out of ten, a motive in desire and feeling. It 
was Professor James who said, " What is the use of 
reason if we cannot give reasons for what we wish? " 
And it frequently happens that after a person has given 
various reasons for doing or not doing a certain thing it 
is evident to all others that his fundamental motive lies 
in his desires. 

An Advantage in School Government. — Conse- 
quently, one who can teach music, and, better still, who 
can sing soulfully and induce others to participate, has 
a great advantage, a great leverage, in the government 
and discipline of a school. If a teacher is able to open 
her school in the morning by a rousing song in which all 
heartily join, the government of her school will be easier 
thruout the day. And it is incomparably better to 
end the school day with a good song, in which all will 
heartily join, thus sending the pupils home with a 



284 Fundamentals in Methods 

feeling of harmony, than to close with injunctions, pro- 
hibitions, advice, or scolding. A singing exercise, both 
at the beginning and at the end of the day, in which 
all freely participate will be remembered in future years 
when the specific lessons in grammar, in arithmetic, or in 
geography will have been forgotten. 

Not Merely Formal. — Whatever the detailed methods 
of teaching music may be, pupils should not be kept too 
long on the merely formal aspect of it. When children 
are learning to play on the piano, they wish to play 
something as soon as possible; and when children are 
learning to read music and to sing, they wish also to sing 
something. To keep children too long merely playing 
scales or practicing notes is likely to paralyze, if it does 
not kill, the musical impulse and spirit. Here as else- 
where the tool should be used in something worth while 
as soon as possible. 

Not a Merely Feminine Subject. — There is need in 
America of a real musical renaissance. The sentiment 
is quite prevalent among boys that music is distinctively 
a feminine acquisition. Such a delusion should be dis- 
pelled, and the elementary schools of the country should 
take the lead in the disillusionment. 

Should not be Discredited. — Accomplishments in 
music, vocal and instrumental, have been discredited by 
some high schools and colleges. A young person may 
have spent years in voice training and vocal music or on 
the piano or violin, but this has been considered of little 
or no educational value in the traditional curriculum of 
the school or college. What a commentary on our con- 
ception of educational values ! 



The Special Subjects 285 

The Proper Procedure. — In beginning the teaching 
of music it would be advisable to secure some good songs 
which would recall the living experiences of the pupils. 
These could and should be taught by rote. Children 
should learn to enjoy singing as an expression of their 
lives before the technical details of notation are pre- 
sented. Notation should not be presented till the 
pupils have become acquainted with the musical ele- 
ments to which names are then given, such as rhythm 
and pitch. As everywhere else the real thing should 
precede the symbol or the name. 

What to Avoid and Emphasize. — Songs and music 
that are too difficult from a musical point of view should 
be avoided. This caution obtains not only in regard to 
songs, the words of which do not find a response in the 
life experiences of the children, but also to those musical 
compositions which are altogether too classical and too 
difficult of appreciation for any but the musically trained. 
Music should be developed as one of the natural forms of 
expression. While music and song should always be 
such as to elevate and refine the emotions of childhood, 
they should also be within the range of the children's 
appreciation and liking, so that they will enter into the 
expression in a whole-souled manner. Musical notation 
is only a means to this natural expression of life. In 
the teaching of music the rhythm and the phrase should 
be emphasized as the unit — the sentence rather than 
the word. 

Materials and Equipment. — In the grades of the city 
school an appropriate series of books will, of course, be 
used. Music should be graded just as is reading, 



286 Fundamentals in Methods 

arithmetic, or any other subject. Herein lies the diffi- 
culty in the rural school. But even here a teacher of 
tact can make a combination of the rote singing of the 
old familiar and ever enjoyable songs with lessons on 
musical study and notation which will put the pupils in 
possession of the musical tool. The reading of music 
is analogous to the reading of English — it is acquiring 
the ability to gather and to appreciate the musical 
content by means of the symbols. A piano or organ and 
a phonograph should be a part of the school equipment. 
If a lively interest in music be generated in the school 
and the neighborhood, there will be little difficulty in 
securing these instruments, either from the school board 
or by means of entertainments given by the school, to 
which a nominal admission is charged. Voluntary 
subscriptions will not be lacking under good leadership. 
The Aim. — The chief aim of musical study and musi- 
cal expression is the development of character thru the 
refining and the ennobling of the emotional nature. 
It is chiefly thru this side of our nature, as we said, 
that we are all motived in our lives and conduct. The 
special and technical aim should be to read music intelli- 
gently. Herein it is similar to the reading of English. 

II. Drawing and Art 

The Danger of Formalism. — Drawing, also, in its 
various phases, including as much of color work and art 
generally as is possible under the circumstances, is a 
most important subject. Too frequently, it is true, it 
remains a formal, perfunctory, deadening exercise, just 
as writing does. This subject used to be taught chiefly 



The Special Subjects 287 

by means of drawing books, just as was the case with 
writing, by means of copy books. The drawing was 
merely copying the specified figures and forms in the 
books. There was no element of art or of life in it. 

Drawing, like music, should be an expression of the 
personality. As singing is an artistic vocal expression, 
so drawing, in order to be artistic, should be an expres- 
sion, in form, of the beautiful. The artistic impulses are 
in every normal human being; but they need to be 
awakened and cultivated in order that they may come 
to flower and fruit. 

Content Needed. — As the study of music should soon 
result in the playing of tunes or the singing of songs, so 
drawing should rapidly progress into the attempt at the 
artistic expression of the beautiful as it exists all around 
us. If a person has had " drawing," so-called, for 
several years, and can not step up to a blackboard and 
represent, in reasonably accurate and artistic form, the 
beautiful as it exists in flower, bird, animal, or man, it is 
of little use to him or to anyone else ; it has never ripened. 
The teacher who can express in the presence of his pupils 
the beautiful as it exists all around him, and who can 
elicit in them both the desire and the ability to do the 
same, has, like the teacher of music, a wonderful advan- 
tage over the teacher who has no such accomplishment. 

The Aim. — The aim of drawing and art work generally 
is the development of one phase, and that a most impor- 
tant one, of the life and capacity of the normal child. 
This cultivation should conduce, among other things, 
to greater accuracy of observation, a better visual 
memory, a love of the beautiful, power to express it, 



288 Fundamentals in Methods 

manual skill, originality, neatness, order, and some 
knowledge of the well-known works of art. 

The Equipment. — As is the case in every subject of 
study, good results can not be secured in drawing and 
art unless the teacher and the pupils have the necessary 
materials and equipment. A science teacher can not do 
justice to his pupils unless he has adequate laboratory 
facilities. Drawing and art work, generally, are essen- 
tially laboratory subjects. As the name implies, the 
doing is their very essence. To attempt to teach such 
subjects by talking about them or without the various 
materials needed for the pupils is simply to spoil the sub- 
ject and destroy a taste for art in the pupils themselves. 
The following specific mention of some of the materials 
needed may indicate the range and variety of supplies 
necessary to good work in the field of visual art and de- 
sign: 

i. Paper of various kinds and colors for design, con- 
struction, mounting, water color, crayon, ink, and pencil, 
as designated by any good manual on this subject. 

2. For water-color work: Prang's water-color box 
No. 3 A (containing red, blue, yellow, and black), pan, 
and cloth. 

3. For crayon work: Prang's Crayonex No. 3 (with 
eight colors). 

4. For construction : scissors, paste, and rubbers. 
Care of Materials. — All materials should be handled 

in a systematic and orderly way. The teacher should 
care for the paper and distribute it at the beginning of 
each lesson ; she should plan the size, to avoid waste. 
Scissors and materials used in construction should be in 



The Special Subjects 289 

her keeping. The children might care for their own 
paint boxes. Pencils and crayon should be collected 
at the end of each lesson. 

Topics. — The following topics in art education are 
suggested to indicate the range of the work. These 
would be developed and presented as the pupils and the 
grades demand : 

(1) Nature work, (2) Object drawing, (3) Design, 
(4) Color study,! (5) Construction, (6) Pose, (7) Land- 
scape, (8) Illustration, (9) Picture study, and (10) Per- 
spective. In the presentation of these, the more natural 
and real the situation and the work, the better. 

Sources of Information and Supplies. — It would be 
advisable for the teacher to have the catalogs of the 
Prang Company, Chicago; The Milton Bradley Com- 
pany, Springfield, Massachusetts; Thomas Charles, 
Chicago; Metzer & Grover, Boston; and to write the 
Waldcraft Company, Indianapolis, Indiana, in regard 
to dies, blocks, and stencil materials. 

III. Nature Study 

Importance. — Nature study, so-called, is another 
interesting and, indeed, fascinating subject. Nature is 
full of beauty — in stone, in leaf, in flower, in bird, and 
in animal. The school life of the child, too, is the period 
when the senses are most widely awake and when ob- 
servation is naturally keenest. Consequently, this is 
the period when all the senses could most easily be culti- 
vated and habituated to become keenly observant of 
the ways and of the beauties of nature. A teacher who 
has some knowledge of nature in her various forms has 



290 Fundamentals in Methods 

here also a great advantage over the teacher who has 
no such ability. All children like to know the names 
and the ways of the things of life around them. Flowers, 
insects, birds, and beasts arrest attention and enlist 
their interest. When these are once awakened, the 
problem of school discipline is solved. And when the 
right atmosphere and spirit are thus generated, pupils 
become highly suggestible, and the instruction of the 
teacher becomes acceptable. When this mutual cor- 
diality prevails between teacher and pupils, the educa- 
tional process is most natural and effective. Nature 
study is a large factor in generating such a spirit and 
atmosphere. 

Not Microscopic. — Nature study should be the ob- 
servation and investigation of things in the large. If it 
descend to the microscope and the dissecting knife as 
its chief means, it is doomed. Many teachers kill all 
interest in nature study by being too " scientific," by 
having pupils live and move in a microscopic world 
rather than in the ordinary world of the senses. They 
forget that all children begin with things as wholes, and 
proceed by study and analysis to the elements. Scien- 
tists arrive at the elements after long study and ex- 
perience ; but to have children begin where the teacher is, 
is an old and vicious practice of the schoolroom. 

The Aim. — The aim of this subject should be to cul- 
tivate an enthusiastic interest in nature, to develop an 
intelligent appreciation of her wonders and a capacity 
to enjoy her varied charms and her wonderful art. It 
should train the pupil in accurate observation and 
correct interpretation of his natural environment, and 



The Special Subjects 291 

should tend to careful, attentive, and accurate generaliza- 
tions. In connection with the subject the child is trained 
in accurate description and in the making of illustrative 
drawings to assist his language. 

First-hand Knowledge. — In nature study the child 
should get an increasingly accurate knowledge of his 
physical environment. Such first-hand knowledge is 
vastly superior to information gathered from books, for 
it is actual, concrete experience and not the faint copy 
so often secured from the mere symbols. It is of great 
value as a basis for the interpretation of other studies. 
Perhaps the most important consideration here is the 
formation of the habit of learning directly from nature, 
not only by observing her in her more usual aspects, but 
also by putting our questions to her in the form of ex- 
periments and then noting results. 

Specific Subject-matters. — Specifically, this study 
should give the child the ability to recognize and name 
a variety of trees, shrubs, flowers, grains, grasses, 
vegetables, weeds, domestic animals, and wild animals, 
including birds and insects. It should make him 
acquainted with the habits, life history, economic and 
aesthetic value, and the harmful nature of many of 
these. 

SOME SOURCE REFERENCES 

Wilson : Nature Study in Elementary Schools (The Macmillan Co.). 
Cummings: Nature Study by Grades, Teacher's Book (American 

Book Co.). 
Coulter and Patterson : Practical Nature Study (Appleton). 
Jackman: Nature Study (Henry Holt & Co.). 
Long: Wood Folk at School (Ginn & Co.). 



292 Fundamentals in Methods 

IV. Agriculture 

The Nation Awakens to its Importance. — The sub- 
ject of agriculture is one which has been receiving a great 
deal of attention within the last few years. It is being 
realized everywhere that agriculture is the foundation 
of our national prosperity, for agriculture is the source 
of most of the products which sustain life. It is being 
realized more and more, too, that the cities have grown 
in population much more rapidly than the country ; that, 
as a consequence, the consumers are increasing in number 
out of all proportion to the producers; and hence we 
have the " high cost of living." The national realization 
of this condition has resulted in an agitation in behalf 
of the teaching of agriculture in all grades of schools 
thruout the country. Every state and the nation itself 
has just awakened to the importance of this subject. 

Competent Teachers Needed. — The teaching of 
agriculture is somewhat fruitless in most places, for the 
number of teachers who have sufficient knowledge of the 
subject and experience in farm life is as yet very limited. 
If a person has to study arithmetic for six or eight years 
in order to be able to teach it, how is it possible to give 
a closely knit and consecutive course in the great field 
of agriculture and its allied sciences and arts after a 
comparatively brief study of a textbook in this subject ? 
It is the superficial treatment of this subject that is to 
be feared. It is true, of course, that when new sub- 
jects are first introduced into the school curriculum, we 
must take such teachers as are available. It is poor 
teaching in the new subjects that discredits them. 



The Special Subjects 293 

We allow and accept teaching in agriculture which would 
not be tolerated for a moment in Latin, algebra, or 
geometry. 

Poor teaching, in the transition stage, may perhaps 
be excusable in view of the future. It may be a neces- 
sary stage in the development of the subject or in the 
progress of professional preparation. But the pupils 
must suffer. When a subject is made distasteful, pupils 
may be injured instead of benefited by it. It is to be 
hoped, however, that courses in the teaching of agri- 
culture will increase in number and in richness and 
that this subject will soon be taught as efficiently as 
any other. 

What to Avoid. — The teacher should not give her 
pupils the impression that in the city it is not necessary 
for people to work hard and that there a life of ease and 
of pleasure awaits everybody. She should not continu- 
ally and exclusively hold up for the admiration of her 
pupils the career of politicians, military heroes, profes- 
sional men, and captains of industry, to the disadvan- 
tage of the more prosaic lif e on the farm. 

Rural Life in the Proper Sight. — The teacher, whether 
in the city or the country, should, on the contrary, 
cultivate an attitude of respect for the farmer's calling 
and life and an appreciation of its many advantages. 
The school should create and foster an interest in the 
problems of farm crops, live stock, and farm manage- 
ment, and in the betterment of social and educational 
conditions and of farm life in general. To aid in foster- 
ing this friendly spirit toward the farm, the school should 
give some acquaintance with books, bulletins, and 



294 Fundamentals in Methods 

periodical literature which deal with agriculture and 
rural life and which will cultivate an interest in these. 

Some Specific Topics. — More specifically, the school 
should give some knowledge of the different kinds of soil, 
the importance of humus and of fertilizers, the purposes 
of cultivation, the need of diversification and crop rota- 
tion, and the conservation of moisture and of fertility. 

It should also give some acquaintance with a good 
variety of farm animals, crops, vegetables, trees, shrubs, 
flowers, and the relative merits of each, particularly 
such as may be found in the vicinity. Pupils should 
also learn about the enemies of the farm, such as weeds, 
the common plant and animal diseases, insect pests, 
and methods of treatment. 

Farmstead Conveniences. — The school should also 
cultivate an interest in good plans for the farmstead, 
and should give some knowledge of these, including the 
location of the buildings, a windbreak, grove, orchard, 
ornamental shrubs, and a vegetable and flower garden ; 
likewise the chief conveniences needed to make the farm 
home more sanitary, convenient, comfortable, and pleas- 
ant, such as water supply, sewage system, bath and toilet 
room, heating and lighting systems. The aim should be 
to make children familiar with the essentials of a good 
farm home, a home that the farmer's family may 
reasonably be expected to love. 

REFERENCE BOOKS 

King: The Soil (The Macmillan Co.). 
Wilkinson : Practical Agriculture (American Book Co.). 
Bailey: Principles of Agriculture (The Macmillan Co.). 
Goodrich : First Book of Farming (Doubleday, Page & Co.). 



The Special Subjects 295 

Liggett : Rural School Agriculture (Mc Gill-Warner Co., St. Paul). 
Warren: Elements of Agriculture (The Macmillan Co.). 
Weed : Farm Friends and Farm Foes (D. C. Heath & Co.). 
Fisher and Cotton: Agriculture for Common Schools (Scribner). 
Upham: An Introduction to Agriculture (Appleton). 



V. Domestic Science, or Home Economics 

Its Value. — Domestic Science is another of the new 
subjects introduced into most schools within the last 
few years. This is fraught with much promise. There 
seems to be no reason why girls should not acquire — in 
school, if not at home — a proficiency in both the science 
and the art of housekeeping and home-making. Like 
most other subjects, it has had to fight its way into 
the schools, but at last it has won the " right of domicile " 
alongside of the old-line branches. Like many of the 
newer subjects, it has often been discredited, being 
charged with being merely a bread-and-butter subject. 
But while bread and butter is not the only end in life, 
it is at least one aim of the majority of people. There 
is no reason why a subject which is directly practical in 
life and in living should not be at the same time educative 
and cultural if presented in the right way and by the 
right kind of teacher. Our schools have been under a 
strange obsession, fostered by an erroneous idea of 
" culture," that a mere show of a foreign language or a 
study of ancient Egyptian art, for example, is educative 
for girls but that the science and the art most essential 
to the home and the family are not. 

The Aim. — The aim in the teaching of home econom- 
ics is to give the pupils a knowledge and an apprecia- 



296 Fundamentals in Methods 

tion of what society has done and expects in this field, 
to raise standards of personal living in its various phases, 
and to enable the children to do for themselves and for 
others more efficiently. It not only helps to make a 
living, but it should help to live more completely. It 
tends to dignify work and to impress the great truth that 
labor is a blessing and not a curse. It helps to trace, 
from savagery to civilization, the progress of events 
connected with the family fireside and the family board. 
It gives the occasion and the opportunity to feel the joy 
of expression thru the hands. 

What can be Done. — Girls could and should be taught 
in any elementary school, rural or urban, the various 
phases of needlework, beginning with the most ele- 
mentary exercises. Pupils should come to feel quite 
at home in the hand and finger manipulation of the or- 
dinary tools and materials. This is a matter of habit, 
and this habit should be fairly well ingrained in the school 
years. Some study of the principal textiles should also 
be made. As in other lines, the study should be produc- 
tive of real results. Actual things should be made, be- 
ginning with the simplest. 

In rural schools where the children do not go home for 
lunch, some one wholesome and hot food should be served 
each day to all. In the preparation of this the girls, 
one by one or in groups, may be called upon ; thus to 
help and serve will be a greater pleasure and honor than 
to be served. This plan creates an interest in foods, 
and some new fact or principle will be brought to light 
each day. It gives a basis for teaching the value of foods 
and their uses in the body. It will add cheer to the 



The Special Subjects 297 

school in several ways. The children need something 
warm, especially since most of them had an early and 
light breakfast. It also adds the social and the so- 
ciable element to the school family. 

Such occasions afford the teacher an opportunity to give 
some specific hints and directions in regard to lunch boxes 
or baskets, their cleanliness, the variety of contents, etc. 

Equipment and Material. — For cooking purposes 
a two-burner gasoline stove can be purchased for $3 
and a one-burner for $1.50; two-burner Perfection 
kerosene stove for about $8 and a one-burner for $5. 
A one-burner kerosene stove which answers the pur- 
pose very well may be secured for $2.50 ; a one-burner 
oven for $2.50. 

There will also be needed a kettle, a double boiler, a 
long-handle spoon, and a long-handle dipper. Each child 
should provide his own cup, spoon, and paper napkin. 

Cereals, beans, peas, etc. are recommended ; milk will 
make these palatable and nutritious ; they can be made 
into gruels, mush, and soups. The teacher, the pupils, 
the families, and the Board in conference should solve 
the problem of furnishing the supplies. 

REFERENCES AND SOURCES 

Williams and Fisher : Elements of the Theory and Practice of 

Cookery (The Macmillan Co.). 
Kinne and Cooley: Household Management (The Macmillan Co.). 
Kinne and Cooley: Shelter and Clothing (The Macmillan Co.). 
The Dress Maker (Butterick Fashion Co.). 
Agricultural Bulletins: Nos. 34, 142, 256, 391, 413, 487. (These 

may be secured by writing to The Department of Agriculture, 

Washington, D.C.) 



298 Fundamentals in Methods 

VI. Manual Training 

Value of Expression. — It is now generally admitted 
that even for so-called liberal and cultural education 
the hand and its work are great avenues of approach. 
The brain is awakened by hand processes ; and manual 
training offers a great field for construction and for in- 
genuity of all kinds. The hand is our most expressive 
organ and our most efficient tool. Boys and girls like 
to do things, especially things that seem to them worth 
while. They like to see the products or fruits of their 
own labors; and hence both domestic science and 
manual training are subjects which awaken a lively in- 
terest and a concentrated attention. It is only within 
recent years that the whole significance of doing things 
in all these special lines has been realized. Every 
nation which has come up toward civilization has 
come up thru and by means of work. The child 
must travel in large measure the same road. Manual 
training, like domestic science, suggests respect for 
labor of all kinds. It keeps in school boys who would 
otherwise leave; and it makes easier the problem of 
school government by furnishing a legitimate outlet 
for surplus energy. 

Correlates with Life. — Manual training, like the 
other expressive subjects, brings pupils into closer con- 
tact with the life around them. In after years these 
subjects will cause pupils to energize efficiently in society. 
The teacher who is somewhat proficient in these fines is 
more likely to command the respect, the admiration, 
and the following of youth. We may study Latin, 



The Special Subjects 299 

modern languages, mathematics, social or natural sciences, 
and yet, in after life, these lights may remain somewhat 
hidden under a bushel. They do not always energize or 
function. And so, while we would not urge the so-called 
" doing " to the exclusion of, the knowing subjects, 
nevertheless, the former should not be neglected. There 
should really be no controversy between the two classes. 
The efficient person is the one who can do things ; and it 
is true that there may be a kind of knowing without this 
ability to do. 

Scope. — Some kind of manual training should be 
found in every grade of the elementary school, whether 
urban or rural. In the lower grades it should, like 
language work, geography, and morals, be correlated 
with other subjects. Tho called " busy work," " con- 
struction," paper and cardboard work of all kinds, 
it is, nevertheless, manual training. As we ascend in 
the grades, however, the work should become more and 
more what is specifically and technically called by this 
name. Coping-saw work and the use of many simple 
tools could well be introduced as low as the fourth grade. 
The making of book covers for notebooks, and bench 
work of various kinds, could be done in the sixth, seventh, 
and eighth grades. 

Equipment and Room. — In these days, under the 
laws of the state and the rules and regulations of state 
boards, there are certain requirements in regard to heat- 
ing, lighting, ventilation, and architecture generally. 
Consequently, the newer schoolhouses, even in the 
country schools, have good basements. In such cases 
the basement would provide a good room for manual 



300 Fundamentals in Methods 

training and for the tools and materials needed. All 
the simple but necessary tools should be provided, 
and this workshop would be a center of interest and 
inspiration. Even the smaller children, who would be 
permitted to watch and to carry out their little projects, 
would be greatly benefited, not only by their own activity, 
but by imitation and inspiration due to the presence and 
the work of those larger and more advanced. 

One bench and the necessary tools would cost about 
$25; each additional bench, about $15. If there is no 
such room or equipment in the school, the conditions 
are, of course, adverse; but even then the good live 
teacher will be likely to find a way or make one. In 
cities provision is made, if at all, for systematic manual 
training by the school administration ; if there be no such 
provision, each teacher is left to her own resources and 
ingenuity. But even then, much can be done : — where 
there is a will there is a way. 

REFERENCES AND SOURCES 

Buxton and Curran : Paper and Cardboard Construction. 

Ben Johnson : Coping-saw Work. 

Henry Turner Bailey : Booklet Making. 

Griffity : Correlated Courses in Woodwork and Mechanical Drawing. 

Griffity : Essentials in Woodwork. 

Van Dusen : Beginning with Woodworking. 

The last named sets problems and gives directions for 
their working out. This plan works very well where the 
teacher is busy with other classes. 

All the above-named books are handled by The Manual 
Arts Press, Peoria, Illinois. 



The Special Subjects 301 

VII. Wake Up Mind 

An Important Period. — Every teacher should have 
an occasional short period in which the chief aim would 
be to wake up mind. Mr. Page, in his old classic called 
" Theory and Practice of Teaching," devotes a portion 
of a chapter to a discussion of this subject. It is as 
timely to-day as it was then. Such a period brings the 
attention of the whole school to a focus. Minds as well 
as bodies " touch elbows," so to speak, on such occasions. 
A problem is thrown out for solution and all grapple 
with it. If the teacher propounds the problem or asks 
the question in such a manner as to indicate that he him- 
self has not full knowledge of it, — that he too is wrestling 
with it, — it would awaken all the more interest and 
attention. The author remembers with keenest relish 
such periods given by one of his teachers many years ago. 
There was probably no exercise in that school that did 
more good than such problems and questions, taken, as 
they were, from any source under the sun. Such topics 
tend to knit the school into the activities and interests 
of everyday life, for they bring the school and life to- 
gether. This would be real teaching and the true 
school. 

A Few Sample Topics. — We submit a few samples 
of the kind of topics suggested. The teacher and the 
pupils would add others without number : 

1. What makes the wings of a windmill turn around? 
How? 

2. What makes the weathervane point to the wind? 
How? 



302 Fundamentals in Methods 

3. What makes the water sprinkler on the lawn turn 
around ? How ? 

4. Why have large sections of country which were 
once covered with water and which contained numerous 
sloos and swamps so dried up that there are fields now 
where water once stood ? 

5. Why do farmers cultivate corn? What does culti- 
vation do? 

6. If one should go due northeast continually, where 
would he come to? 

7. Why is it that people are growing corn much farther 
north than was possible formerly ? 

We need not continue the list which the pupils should 
help make. They should be induced to give all the 
reasons, pro and con, in regard to the problem under 
discussion : in fact they could not be restrained from 
so doing. Such exercises wake up and clarify the 
mind. 

Contagious Interest. — Such problems, it is true, 
may be specially appropriate for the larger pupils, but 
it is wonderful how the younger children will catch the 
spirit of the older ones. Indeed, what has been called 
the " overflow of instruction " is one of the potent 
educative factors in rural schools. The smaller pupils 
listen to the larger ones reciting their more advanced 
lessons and learn a great deal from the discussions. 
In a particular grade of a city school all the pupils are of 
the same age and degree of advancement ; there are no 
subjects discussed which are above their own level. 
The consequence is that there is a tendency to monotony. 
An ungraded school has many incentives and invigorating 



The Special Subjects 303 

exercises in which both the older and the younger pupils 
participate. Thought is aroused not only in the school 
but frequently in the whole neighborhood. To stir up 
thought, conversation, and helpful discussion among 
the patrons and people of the community is not the 
least important aim of the teacher and the school. 



CHAPTER XXI 

METHODS IN SCHOOL MANAGEMENT 

Importance. — The foregoing chapters have been de- 
voted to fundamentals in the methods of teaching the 
various common school subjects. This would seem in- 
complete without a short discussion of some of the fun- 
damental methods in the management and government 
of a school. It is our manner and methods of school 
management that determine to a great extent our success 
in instruction ; for if a school is not well regulated and 
controlled, the pupils will not be in the best mental 
condition for the reception of knowledge, for the proper 
emotional response, or for the acceptance of suggestions 
in regard to conduct. In this chapter it is not our aim 
to give a comprehensive discussion of school manage- 
ment, but merely to offer a few suggestions in this direc- 
tion in order that teachers or prospective teachers may 
project the direction of their further progress and success. 
If one puts down only two stakes, he can then see the 
exact direction of other positions ahead, in a direct 
line ; and so we give only a few points and allow these 
to indicate the general direction and character of pro- 
cedure. 

A Good Letter of Application. — Many teachers, as 
we said in our lesson on language, are unable to write 
a good application for a position. Such applications 

304 



Methods in School Management 305 

often contain inherent weaknesses and indications of 
a lack of ability in various ways. Many such applica- 
tions find their way into the wastebasket of the school 
board. From indirections the board finds directions out. 

Contract. — Before beginning a term of school a 
teacher should see to it that her contract has been for- 
mally made out and signed, where the law requires such 
a contract, as is the case in most states. No loophole 
should be left by the teacher or by the school board for 
dissatisfaction or for evasion of the fulfillment of the 
understanding. When room is left for either party to 
withdraw from the terms of a verbal contract, each 
one invites such a withdrawal. Altho the word of 
each party may have passed, a written contract, when 
required by law, should be duly signed and a copy 
given to each party. 

In this connection we would say, however, that it is 
not only professional ethics but ordinary morality that 
when one's word is given he is in duty bound, whether a 
written contract has been signed or not. Many com- 
plaints are justly made by school boards in regard to 
teachers for thus breaking their word, which should be 
as good as their bond. On the other hand, many teachers 
have just reason to complain of the treatment of school 
boards in regard to understandings and verbal agree- 
ments. Such things should not be. 

Go in Time. — A teacher, especially in the case of 
rural districts, should go into a neighborhood a day or 
two ahead of the opening of school in order to secure 
a boarding place and to become acquainted with some 
of the people and children of the neighborhood. She 



306 Fundamentals in Methods 

will! thus get " the lay of the land " and will be better 
enabled to realize the situation which lies before her. 
Just as we develop in children's minds an apperception 
mass to make them interested in what is coming and to 
aid them in making further progress, so the teacher, by 
becoming a resident of a district a day or two in advance, 
will create in her own mind and in the minds of the people 
in the community an educational apperception mass 
that will be of inestimable value to her in launching and 
carrying on her work in that neighborhood. 

" Get into the Game." — Every teacher should, to 
use a popular phrase, " get into the game " in the com- 
munity. She should not have in mind the idea of re- 
turning home Friday evening, the earliest opportunity, 
and of remaining there until Monday morning. The 
community may tolerate this once or twice without 
complaint, but if such a practice becomes chronic, the 
people have good reason to think that the teacher is 
there merely for the money that is in it, that she is a 
visitor and a stranger in their midst, and that her heart 
and her thoughts are elsewhere. That teacher who 
immerses herself in the life and activities of the people, 
who'participates in their doings, who visits their homes, 
and who assumes leadership wherever feasible among 
the people and the children, can do most good in a com- 
munity. They will then consider her one of them- 
selves instead of regarding her as a stranger who comes 
to them for a few days' work and goes home whenever 
possible. 

The First Day. — The first day is probably the most 
important one of the whole term. The pupils do not go 



Methods in School Management 307 

to school the first day to study their lessons but to study 
the teacher ; and the teacher does not go to school the 
first day primarily to teach lessons but to study the chil- 
dren and to become acquainted with them. Conse- 
quently, the teacher should " put her best foot forward" 
the first day. She should be busy and cheerful and 
should see to it that the " ball is kept rolling." Time 
should not be allowed to drag, lest faultfinding may 
find a place. The teacher should learn the names of 
all the children, the point reached in their various 
studies, and all other important facts in regard to 
them and their work. She should give evidence of 
being sociable and should make it plain that she is 
their friend. The first day she should endeavor by all 
means to secure a strong party, if not all of the school, 
on her side. For at the end of the first day the pupils 
will leave the schoolhouse either with favorable or un- 
favorable comment upon their lips. If they leave the 
schoolroom the first evening as friends of the teacher, 
nothing but good words will be spoken of her on the way 
home; but if they depart dissatisfied and hostile, the 
teacher will have great difficulty thereafter to reverse 
such a trend of thought and discussion. 

Masterfulness. — If a teacher be strong and tactful, 
she will show it in her whole bearing and in all her move- 
ments of the day. Her masterfulness will appear at 
every turn. The pupils will realize immediately that the 
schoolroom is not a simple democracy, but that inside 
its walls the teacher is the legislative, executive, and judi- 
cial authority. But the teacher will not be an unreason- 
able and unreasoning despot; she will be firm and 



308 Fundamentals in Methods 

just ; and there are no two attributes that children love 
more. Consequently, if some pupils come to school 
possessed of the idea that they have inherited rights, — 
a kind of preemption right, — for example, to certain 
seats, — they should be at once kindly but tactfully 
disabused of any such notion. The teacher should 
seat the pupils at once according to her own ideas of 
fitness and propriety; and every pupil should under- 
stand that his seating may be changed at any time. 

Proper Seating. — Much of the government and disci- 
plining of a school depends upon the proper distribution 
and seating of the children. If a couple or a group of 
children sitting close together are inclined to be mischiev- 
ous, this may become a center of disturbance. The 
teacher should see the little storm at the beginning and, 
without telling the children why their seating is changed, 
should see to it that this is speedily done on some pre- 
text. But the teacher should keep her own counsel in 
such matters. 

Don't Boast or " Knock." — The teacher who goes 
into a new neighborhood or a new school should beware 
of boasting ; on the other hand she should never make a 
disparaging remark in regard to the character, the ability, 
or the mode of procedure of her predecessor. There is 
scarcely anything more contemptible than building 
one's reputation upon the ruins of another. If a person 
can not say anything good of his predecessor, he should 
not speak of him at all ; it is still better to speak of his 
good qualities whenever possible. 

Few Rules. — A teacher should make but few if any 
rules. Pupils, as well as adults, know what is right, and 



Methods in School Management 309 

it is not necessary to have written or printed rules posted 
upon the wall or upon the board. This is not customary 
in society, for everybody knows what is proper and right. 
If a breach of etiquette, of morals, or of the proper pro- 
cedure of any kind occur, then and there is the time to 
make known definitely and unequivocally that such 
things can not be. There should be no scolding nor nag- 
ging in regard to it, but pupils can read upon the deter- 
mined teacher's countenance that such an act is not to 
be repeated. It is, we think, a mistake to make a rule or 
to have a rule understood against whispering or against 
the proper leaving of one's seat. Whispering in itself 
is not a wrong or an evil. It is only when it becomes a 
nuisance and a hindrance to those around that it should 
be forbidden. The leaving of one's seat to consult the 
dictionary or to deposit litter in a wastebasket should 
be allowed. This would resemble conduct in real life. 
A Test Case. — Of course, if a teacher sees that a 
pupil is repeating a certain act merely for the sake of 
attracting attention or for the purpose of annoying her, 
then and there it should be caught and stopped once for 
all. There are some things at which the teacher should 
connive — some little things which the teacher should 
not see. But if an act is serious and is likely to be re- 
peated, the teacher's eye should rest upon the pupil 
and there should be no connivance. If a pupil, in any 
kind of brazen manner, should attempt then to look 
the teacher down, the latter should beware. Such an 
instance should be the first crossing of mental swords, 
and if the teacher's eye drops, the pupil has conquered. 
The pupil is the person who should retreat under such 



3 to Fundamentals in Methods 

circumstances. If the teacher be the first, then woe to 
her government and discipline thereafter. 

Visit the Homes. — A teacher should establish friendly 
relations with the parents of her pupils; she should 
visit the parents in their homes. This is especially 
true in rural districts and in small towns. Altho 
the teacher is a comparative stranger in their midst she 
should not stand upon the usual etiquette of waiting 
until a parent has called. Such formality should not 
obtain in a situation of that kind. When a teacher calls 
upon the parents and is entertained under their roof 
and at the family table, they will not be the first to 
believe unfavorable stories in regard to her. They will 
be her shield and her defense in time of possible storm 
or stress. They will say that they know that teacher 
and that they are sure that such things are not true. 

Don't Teach the Home School. — Caution should be 
given to young teachers not to teach the home school. 
Where a person has grown up with the young people and 
children of the neighborhood, it is difficult to disprove 
the old adage that " Familiarity breeds contempt." 
In such a situation children are accustomed to hear the 
teacher called by her first name and consequently they 
do likewise by imitation. This leads to further liberties 
and familiarity and weakens a teacher's power in dis- 
cipline and government. A parent is not the best 
teacher of his own child. The teaching process needs 
a kind of estrangement between the child and his teacher, 
for in that condition he is most suggestible. There is 
usually a halo of greatness around the stranger, and 
children receive instruction and direction from him 



Methods in School Management 311 

which they would be tempted to challenge in the case 
of one who is well known. It seems to be a peculiarity 
of human nature to prize that which is far away and to 
disparage what is near. There is a tendency in us all to 
believe what we see and read in a book, while if these 
same assertions were made by those whom we know, we 
should be inclined to challenge them. With all of these 
facts in mind, it would be better for a young teacher to 
begin her work in a new neighborhood and with strange 
children. While it may be more pleasant to be at home 
among friends, it is professionally more advantageous 
to begin our vocation among strangers. Here we have 
to depend upon ourselves and to blaze forth our own 
paths. This should mean much for the cultivation 
of individuality and of initiative on the part of the 
teacher. 

Signals in the Schoolroom. — In the calling and dis- 
missal of classes and of school exercises generally, a simple 
set of signals is recommended. It is not necessary to 
use a loud bell or to adopt a martinet system of signals 
and of movements of the children. Any plan of signals 
should be reduced to its lowest and simplest terms. 
The class might first be called merely by name; they 
would then rise and, at the word " pass/' move to the 
usual place of recitation. Without going into details 
in this matter, it is sufficient to say that a teacher should 
avoid unnecessary disorder on the one hand and a com- 
plicated system of unnecessary signals on the other. In 
this as in all matters, the practice in ordinary fife and in 
important situations should be approached. " Order is 
Heaven's first law," and some system of orderly changes 



312 Fundamentals in Methods 

should be adopted. Each teacher can work out her 
own plan. 

Keep the Machinery in the Background. — It is well 
for the teacher to keep her plans and her motives to her- 
self. It is destructive of discipline and of government to 
reveal to pupils just why things are done as they are. 
They will begin to question the why of it all, and such a 
challenge is good neither for the government of the 
school nor for the children's minds and conduct. Fitch, 
in his lectures on teaching, says, " Keep the machinery in 
the background " ; and Napoleon, when asked how it 
was that he controlled kings and managed parliaments 
and senates, simply said, " By reserve ! " There might 
be, it is true, the extreme of what is called the reserved 
teacher, who would hold herself completely aloof from 
the pupils. There might also be the other extreme, 
where the teacher would identify herself with all the 
minor doings and sayings of the children, and thus be- 
come too familiarly one of them. Here, as everywhere 
else, the golden mean would be best. 

The Proper Atmosphere and Spirit. — The great 
problem of the teacher is to see to it that a proper atmos- 
phere and spirit are generated. The attitude of the 
pupils must be right in order that they may learn. 
But the attitude of the pupils will usually be an echo 
of the attitude of the teacher. We usually get back 
what we give. This is one of the results of personal 
association and contact. We grow like unto each other, 
and the pupils, in large measure, imitate and grow 
like unto the teacher ; hence, "As is the teacher, so is 
the school." If a teacher is polite, politeness will be 



Methods in School Management 313 

cultivated in the children; if the teacher is neat and 
cleanly in person and in dress, the children will imitate 
her to quite an extent. Hence the teachers are living 
fires at which the pupils light their torches as they go 
forth in school and in life. 

A Clock and Program. — There should be a clock in 
every schoolroom. If it is not furnished by the school 
board, as it should be, the teacher should invest in one 
which is simple and inexpensive. The pupils have a 
right to know the time of day; and it is a satisfaction 
and a means of regulating their work. Every teacher, 
too, should have a program which should be followed 
with reasonable closeness. It sometimes happens that 
some subjects monopolize more than their share of time. 
This is apt to be the case with subjects which the 
teacher likes or which lend themselves to the using of 
time, while those that are difficult for the teacher receive 
less time and attention. This is likely to be the practice, 
especially when visitors are present. The teacher, fearing 
that she will not need all of the time, uses as much as 
possible of it on subjects which she likes to teach. But 
this is unjust to herself, to her pupils, and to her visitors. 
The program should be followed quite closely. 

There should be on the program a time for study as 
well as for recitation. If such is not the case, pupils 
will waste much time in rummaging from one thing to 
another. Such a stated period would also induce definite 
habits of studying a certain subject at a certain time 
and in a certain place. Then when we find ourselves 
in that place and at that time, the proper mood is likely 
to come in accordance with the nature of habit. 



314 Fundamentals in Methods 

Regular and Punctual. — The teacher should be 
punctual and regular in all her work. She should be in 
her room at the schoolhouse ahead of time rather than 
behind. A lack of punctuality and of regularity are two 
problems with which teachers have to wrestle in dealing 
with children; but it is impossible to urge them upon 
children if we ourselves are seen to be offenders. No 
pupil should have an opportunity to say that his teacher 
was late or absent without a reason which appeals to him 
as entirely convincing. 

Teach How to Study. — Most pupils, and indeed 
many high school and college students, do not really know 
how to study. Children should be taught this by the 
teacher. Sometimes pupils will be heard to say that 
they studied a lesson over seven times or more. Such 
methods of study may be merely a mental dissipation. 

The proper way to study a lesson would be to read it 
over slowly and thoughtfully, taking down upon a 
small piece of paper at our side the pivotal points of 
interest or discussion, the chief contentions, or the 
problems explained in the text. Then after we have 
read the whole lesson thru in this careful manner it is 
well to close the book for a short period of reflection. 

We note then the first topic, or point, jotted down and 
consider in our own minds whether or not we can " de- 
liver the goods/' so to speak, in our own language. If 
we know the point which has been made, if we have the 
information which establishes the truth in our own minds, 
and if we are satisfied that we can furnish the solution 
of the problem when called upon, we may then rest 
satisfied that we know this point. 



Methods in School Management 315 

We proceed then to the next topic, and if after a few 
minutes' reflection we can not bring to mind the drift 
of the thought and the conclusion arrived at, it would 
then be legitimate to open the book in order to see how 
the author maintains his position. 

We then proceed in like manner to the third point 
which we have taken down, and if, after due reflection, 
we again realize in our own minds that we see the 
point made and the way in which it was made, we may 
then conclude that this is also clearly and adequately 
known. 

Having gone thru all our points in this reflective 
manner, we may then with safety close the book and 
the subject and leave the rest for the time of recitation. 
Such a method of study wherein we have read carefully 
thru the lesson and taken down the pivotal points, 
and later have had these periods of self-examination, 
is far better than reading thru the lesson seven — or 
forty-seven — times in a superficial and often thought- 
less manner. 

Mental Habits. — Habits of thought and of study may 
be induced and cultivated like habits of any other kind. 
The mind may form the habit of " holding on " to a sub- 
ject with all its might, or on the other hand it may form 
the habit of continually " slipping." Much will depend 
upon the teacher as to what mental habits are formed 
by pupils in their methods of studying. 

A Slave to a Book or Course of Study. — A teacher 
should not be a slave to the textbook. As a pupil is 
supposed to be able to reproduce a lesson from the points 
he has taken down during his study period, so a teacher 



316 Fundamentals in Methods 

should be able to conduct a recitation with the textbook 
closed. This should be merely a source of information 
and a basis for discussion for both teacher and class. 
But the slavish following of the text, whether the pupils 
memorize its paragraphs or whether the teacher must 
refer to it in class in order to know whether or not the 
answers are correct, is certain death to all interest and 
success in teaching. The teacher should have both 
hands free and should be able to walk to the board and 
to illustrate, on the instant and in a few seconds, any- 
thing in the lesson which will lend itself to such illustra- 
tion. Someone has said that the success of a school 
may be measured by the amount of chalk which is used ; 
consequently the teacher should be able to make things 
clear by visual illustration. 

We would say, also, that as there should be no sub- 
serviency to the textbook, neither should the teacher and 
her class be slaves to the details of a course of study. 
Effective teaching must be free. The teacher who feels 
that her hands are tied in the teaching of any subject 
must feel the burden of her slavery. The lock step in all 
such matters should be avoided by all means. 

Questioning. — Questioning is the great art of the 
teacher as it is of the lawyer. The teacher's questions 
should be direct, simple, and definite; they should not 
suggest the answer and should not be capable, as a 
rule, of being answered merely by the word yes or no. 
Where these are a sufficient answer, there is one chance 
out of two of being right. A good question should simply 
propound a problem, and let the children wrestle with it 
in a situation where there is one right answer to a hundred 



Methods in School Management 317 

or a thousand wrong ones. The teacher should be careful 
also not to indicate directions or results either by hints 
or by facial expressions. While a good teacher should 
be interesting and sympathetic, he should be expression- 
less while the pupil is doing his part of the work. 

Repeating Answers. — The teacher should be careful 
not to fall into the habit, as many teachers do, of re- 
peating in a perfunctory way the answer which the 
pupil gives to a question. Such a habit becomes a 
veritable nuisance, and as it proceeds the teacher is 
likely to become unconscious of the failing. It is a 
waste of time and words, throwing over the situation 
a kind of monotonous repetition which induces sleepiness 
rather than alertness. In the asking of questions the 
teacher should be careful to guard against all manner 
of random talking and answering. When the teacher 
asks a question, some particular individual should be 
called upon to wrestle with it, and all others should 
listen. When he has had his " say," the question may 
then be given, if desirable, to some one else for correction 
or further discussion. 

Stand or Sit ? — No rule should be made in regard to 
standing or sitting during the recitation; this would 
depend upon the size of the class, the maturity of the 
pupils, and many other circumstances. It is not always 
necessary for a pupil to rise before answering a question. 
This might be a waste of time. If the subject or prob- 
lem to be discussed is such as requires some little time, 
the better and more formal plan would be to have the 
pupil stand and expound it at some length in his own 
way. He would then express himself in full. But 



318 Fundamentals in Methods 

many times only a short answer is needed, and then it is 
entirely proper to allow a pupil to give his answer while 
he is seated. As in all other cases, formal rules which 
are never to be broken are an abhorrence. 

Reviews. — At stated times the teacher should give 
the pupils a review of the subject being studied. 
Teachers frequently forget this, for they attribute to the 
children the same mental status in regard to a subject 
which they themselves have. It seems clear to them and 
consequently they forget that it may not be clear to 
others. When pupils have gone over a certain portion 
of a textbook, to go back and review certain topics is 
very illuminating and instructive. The pupils will then 
bring to bear upon these the light of a higher and more 
definite knowledge. They will also feel a kind of thrill 
or return wave of success in a renewed attack upon 
what they had previously only partially mastered. 
They have been under the impression that they under- 
stood all about it, but after a good review they feel 
that they have built for themselves " more stately 
mansions." Reviews for young and growing minds are 
one of the best possible exercises of the schoolroom. 

Call Back Instruction. — A teacher should also call 
back instruction periodically by means of tests or exam- 
inations. Every person who has taught will realize, 
when he does this, that much of the instruction which 
he has given rests in the pupils' minds in a more or 
less distorted shape. While these examinations should 
not be too frequent, and while too much should not 
depend upon them, they are occasions of extreme interest 
and of illumination to both teacher and pupils. 



Methods in School Management 319 

Nagging, an Abominable Vice. — Teachers should be 
careful not to fall into the habit of scolding and nagging. 
It is one of the worst habits, abominable from every 
point of view. Frequently, it is true, a pupil or the whole 
school should be " brought up standing with a sharp 
turn " and be informed of the duty or the negligence and 
dereliction in point. But when this is done, bygones 
should be bygones. " If 'twere done when 'tis done, 
then 'twere well 'twere done quickly." To return to 
it again and again in a nagging, scolding manner is 
an unpardonable pedagogical vice. In our opinion it 
would be far better to administer a summary case of 
corporal punishment and have it over with. If either 
nagging or corporal punishment is resorted to continu- 
ally or chronically, it is evident that the atmosphere and 
attitude of the school are not right. Here is where the 
teacher should look for the source of the trouble. 

Supervise the Playground. — Teachers should be 
careful to guard the playground. When pupils congre- 
gate at recesses and at noons, various plots and schemes 
are likely to be hatched. Without supervision the recess 
may be a mischief-making time. While a teacher should 
not become too prominent and too omnipresent in all the 
relations of the children, her presence should be felt 
as a good influence. While the recess should be retained, 
it should be carefully supervised. In some situations 
this is as much a part of the teacher's business as is 
instruction in the classroom. 

Cleanliness. — As the teacher should be neat and 
cleanly in dress and in habits, so the schoolroom should 
be characterized by the same attributes. The teacher 



320 Fundamentals in Methods 

should induce the pupils in every way possible to cooper- 
ate with her in having, if possible, the most beautiful 
schoolroom in the surrounding country. Pictures should 
be selected to decorate its walls. In these days, happily, 
the poorest of us may acquire pictures which kings 
could not purchase a century ago. 

School Entertainments. — To bring the school before 
the community in a proper light and to give it a dominant 
note, it is advisable, occasionally, to have what is called 
a " school entertainment." If thought best, a small 
admission fee of five or ten cents might be charged. 
The proceeds of this entertainment might well be de- 
voted to the purchase of schoolroom decorations or a 
school library. The whole community should be invited 
to attend. There is scarcely anything that so pleases 
the parents of a neighborhood as the performances of 
their children. Such entertainments frequently become 
the subject of thought and of talk in the whole commu- 
nity. This will enlist their interest in the school and 
will generate a spirit which will support the teacher in 
whatever she may wish to undertake. 

The Teacher should Grow. — Finally, the teacher 
should have within her the power to grow. She should 
take at least two professional journals or magazines: 
one published in the state in order to get the home or 
local educational news, and another more national in 
character. She should have a growing mind not only in 
subjects to be taught but in more advanced education. 
President Butler, of Columbia University, says that the 
power to grow mentally is one of the indications of an 
educated person. The teacher should also participate in 



Methods in School Management 321 

professional conventions of various kinds and cooperate 
in them with the other teachers in her district, her county, 
or her state. Here she forms the acquaintance of 
others and becomes known herself. In the teaching 
profession, especially, one's acquaintance is his capital. 
Becoming well and favorably known increases one's 
chances of promotion and hence of usefulness. 



INDEX 



Abstract and concrete, 167. 

Abused words, 104. 

Activity, 25. 

Addition, 173; of fractions, 184. 

Adolescence, in writing, 128. 

Agriculture, 292. 

Alcohol, 258. 

Algebra, 9, 191. 

Alphabet method, 65. 

Ambiguous terms, 201. 

Analysis, proximate and ultimate, 79, 

216; of letters, 125; of sentences, 

157. 
Anatomy, 242. 

"And" in decimals, the, 196. 
Anger, 259. 

Antonym, meaning thru, 105. 
Apperception mass, 34. 
Application for a school, 304. 
Arithmetic, 164 ff. ; incidental, 182 ; 

too much time on, 169. 
Atmosphere, the proper, 9, 312. 
Auditory to visual, 62. 

Backbone words, 138. 
Bacon's idols, 15. 
Bathing, 245. 

Ben Hour's horses — illustration, 10. 
Biography of an author, 83, 279. 
Bird, the young — illustration, 26. 
Blackboard work, 143. 
Boasting, 308. 
Body, respect for, 244. 
Booth, Edwin — illustration, 52. 
Breathing exercises, 253. 
Browning, Robert, 16. 
Bushel, the — origin of, 200. 
Button, the — illustration, 10. 
Byron's tribute, 85; his Apostrophe, 
55- 



Cancellation, i7g. 

Capitalization, 137. 

"Caput" as a root, in. 

Character, 4. 

Choosing selections, 48. 

Cicero's criticism, 51. 

"Cide" as a root, 112. 

Circle, the area of — illustration, 197. 

Cleanliness, 245, 319. 

Clock, needed, 313. 

Colors, restful, 254. 

Commercial arithmetic, 203. 

" Complement," meaning of, 163. 

Compositional power, 134. 

Compositions, 143. 

Concrete, the, 167. 

Consumption, 248. 

Content, importance of, 71, 287. 

Context, meaning by, 105. 

Contract, 305. 

Copybooks, 117. 

Corporal punishment, 319. 

Correlation, 88. 

Criterion of language, 137. 

Criticisms in reading, 51, 54. 

Cube root, 206. 

Decimal plan, the, 172, 192 ; origin of, 
196; the decimal point, 194. 

Defacements, 273. 

Dewey's, John — School and Society, 
282. 

Diacritical marks, 99. 

Diagraming sentences, 161-2. 

Dictation, exercise in, 146. 

Dictionary habit, 16. 

Direction, idea of, 215. 

Division, form of, 180. 

Domestic science, 295. 

Drawing, 286. 



323 



3 2 4 



Index 



Ears and eyes, care of, 253. 
"Easy" mind, an, 4. 
"Elocution," the best, 57. 
Emphasis, kinds, 86. 
Entertainments, school, 320. 
Enunciation, 92. 
Environment, 1. 
Ethical Culture School, 269. 
" Events," 233. 
Exercise, 256. 
Experience, 1. 
Expression, 37, 44. 
Extremes, 11. 

" Falling down" in reading, 45. 

Figures, neat, 171. 

First day, important, 306. 

Flies, 251. 

Foreigners, words difficult for, 94; 

reading difficult for, 64. 
Form and content, 71. 
Formality, necessary, 39. 
Fractions, 182-3. 
Freedom, 28, 88. 
Fresh air, 251. 
Friends, teacher and pupil, 12. 

Gallon, the origin of, 201. 

Games, 256. 

Garland's, Hamlin — My Prairies, 

276. 
Gems, literary, 275. 
Geography, 209 ff . ; outline in, 226. 
George Junior Republic, the, 29. 
Germs, 247. 
Globe, the, 216. 
Grammar, 150; difficult to teach, 164; 

a part of language work, 157; 

terminology in, 162; science or art, 

160; why disliked, 152. 
Greatest common divisor, 186. 
Growth, power of, 320. 
Grube method, 166. 
Gymnastics, 257. 

Habits, mental, vii, 315. 
Harris, William T., 50. 
Hawthorne's Great Stone Face, 3. 
Health, 4, 241 ff. 
Hearing, defective, 147, 254. 



History, 228 ff.; geography and his- 
tory, 231; too philosophical, 233. 
Home school, the, 310. 
Hopkins, Mark, 3. 
Humor, essential, 6. 
Hygiene, 241 ff. 
Hypnotist, a — the teacher, 10. 

Ideals, in history, 237. 
Ideas, relation of, 155, 158. 
Identical sentences, 156. 
Idols of the market, 15, 101. 
Imagination, 13 ff. ; in arithmetic, 175, 

197; in geography, 213. 
Inductive procedure in language, 136. 
Inference, 33. 
Influence, 2. 
Interest, 39, 302. 
Interference, too much, 135. 
Interpreter, an, 8. 
"Invert the divisor," 188. 
Isolated facts, 220. 

Justice, 5. 

Keller, Helen, 17. 

Kindness, 7. 

Kings, too prominent in history, 232. 

" Knocking," 308. 

Knots, untying, 28. 

Knowing and doing, 242. 

Language, 130 ff.; criterion of, 137; 
and the home, 130; and the school, 
130; no separate period for, 131 ; oral 
and written, 132 ; textbook in, 149. 

Leader, a, 7. 

Least common multiple, 186. 

Letter- writing, 142. 

Light, 254. 

Liking-point, the, 39. 

Location, idea of, 214. 

Locke, John, 15. 

Lockjaw, 250. 

Logic and grammar, 151. 

"Logy," 113. 

Lumber problem, a, 199. 

Management, school, 304. 
Manual training, 298. 



Index 



325 



Map-drawing, 223. 

Marginal signs, correction by, 145. 

Masterfulness, 307. 

Master-key, a, 44. 

Maxims, favorite, 278. 

Meaning, how learned, 105. 

Mediator, a, 8. 

Medium, a, 42. 

Memory, not to be ignored, 221. 

Mental arithmetic, 170. 

Methods, 1, 63. 

Metric system, the, 202. 

Minneapolis, 221. 

Mirror, a, 43. 

Misspelled words, 97-8. 

Montessori, Madam, 29. 

Morals, the teaching of, 261 ff. ; in the 

public schools, 280. 
Miiller, Max, 61. 
Multiplication: table, 174; form of, 

179; sign, 177. 
Music, 271, 283. 

Nagging, 11, 319. 

Narcotics, 258. 

Nature study, 289; not microscopic, 

290. 
Newer subjects, the, 282. 
Notation and numeration, 172. 
Notebook, the, 59. 
Note-taking, 127. 

"Of What? "190. 
O'Reilly, John Boyle, 7. 
Orthography, 89. 
Outline in geography, 226. 

Paragraphing, 144. 

Parsing, 159. 

Passivity, 25. 

Patriotism, 236. 

Personality, 5. 

Phonic key, the, 67. 

Physiology, 242. 

Piatt, John James, 276. 

Pictures, 49, 270; interpretation of, 

142. 
Picturing, clear, 13 ff., 213. 
Playground, the, 319. 
Precedence of signs, 178. 



Predicate, the, 155. 

Prefixes, 109. 

Problem, meaning of, 32. 

Program, 313. 

Promotions, self and parental, 58. 

Pronunciation, 92. 

Proper names, meaning of, 108. 

Proportion, 205. 

Psychology and grammar, 151. 

Punctuality, 305, 314. 

Punctuation, 82, 137. 

Punishment, n. 

Pythagorean theorem, 198. 

Quality, 30. 
Quantity, 30. 
Questioning, 316. 

Rapidity in number work, 173. 

Ratio and proportion, 205. 

Reading, 42 ff.; a neglected art, 44; 

beginnings, 61 ff. ; criticisms, 51-4; 

in history, 59; silent and oral, 44. 
Reason, in geography, 221. 
Recessional, The, 74. 
Recitation, oral and written, 133, 

140; the recitation period, 31 ff. 
Regularity, 314. 
Relative magnitudes, 219, 225. 
Repeating answers, 317. 
Repetition, use and abuse, 53. 
Reserve, the power of, 312. 
Revealer, a, 8. 
Reviews, 34, 318. 
Root words, in. 
Rules, few, 308. 

School management, 304. 

School mates, influence of, 263. 

Scolding, 11. 

Seating, proper, 308. 

Selections, choosing, 57. 

Self-activity, 25. 

Sentence, the, — a cosmos, 153. 

Sentence-analysis, 157. 

Sex-hygiene, 246. 

Side excursions, 230. 

Signals, 311. 

Signs, precedence of, 178. 

Silent pupil, the, 135. 



326 



Index 



Sincerity, 6. 

Slang, 103. 

Slant, in writing, 126. 

Slavery to a textbook, 315. 

Spelling, rules for, 96. 

Spelling reform, 100. 

Spirit, proper, 279, 312. 

Spores, 249. 

Square Root, 206. 

Squirrel, the, — an illustration, 28. 

Stand or sit?, 317. 

Story, reproduction of a, 141. 

Study, how to, 314. 

Subject, the, 155. 

Suffixes, no. 

Syllabication, 90-1. 

Synonym, meaning thru, 105. 

Synthesis, 216. 

Tabooed list, the, 138. 

Talleyrand, 1. 

Teacher, most important, 12, 262. 

Teeth, care of, 255. 

Telling, 24. 

Terminology, grammatical, 162. 

Thoroness, too much, 83. 

Thought-material, 154. 

Tobacco, 258. 

Tool stage, the, 71. 

Translate — symbols into language, 

170. 
Trichinosis, 250. 



Truth, the — figures should tell, 179; 

in history, 238. 
Truthfulness, 5. 
Twain, Mark, 23. 
Typewriting, 148. 
Typhoid fever, 249. 

Understanding, a clear, 46. 
Unit of the fraction, 189. 

Vaccination, 259. 
Ventilation, 252. 
Victorian Jubilee, 76. 
Visit parents, 310. 
Vocabulary, 72. 

Wake up mind, 207, 301. 

Wars, too prominent, 232. 

Washington, a tribute to, 85. 

Word, the, 63. 

Words, abused, 104; inwardness of, 

102 ; mispronounced, 93 ; simple, 

compound, etc., 114; structure of, 109. 
Word-work, 89 ff. ; interesting, 107; 

oral and written, 95; sources of 

words, 115. 
Workman, and his tool, 3. 
Writing, 116 ff. ; aims in, 122; in 

adolescence, 128; motive in, 120; 

note-taking and haste in, 127; 

symmetry, 123; systems of, 125; 

who can teach? 128. 



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